China Bull

A dark, and darkly funny novel about a woman’s search to discover the true story of her American cousin after a mysterious death in the family, from the beloved Irish author of Big Girl, Small Town. 

As an eleven-year-old child, Kat adored her clever, cantankerous, and wildly eccentric Irish family. She grew up in an isolated rural community, under occupation by the British Army and in thrall to the Catholic Church while dreaming of living with the Dukes of Hazzard in the Land of the Free.

When her American aunt dies just weeks after her son is killed in a mysterious fire, Kat’s wealthy widowed uncle returns “home”—bringing his surviving child, the beautiful, all-American and dangerously bewitching Kristal. Kristal’s father takes over the family butcher shop and is soon carving meat and breaking hearts. Meanwhile cousins Kat and Kristal form an intense bond despite the fact that Kat knows nothing about makeup and Kristal really doesn’t understand the glories of a Convent Grammar education. 

As Kat tries to crack the mysteries of her glamorous cousin Kristal, she unearths a confusing tangle of half-truths, rumours, and lies that stretch between America and Ireland. When Kat discovers Kristal’s darkest secret, she knows exactly what to do. She cleaves to her family’s code of secrecy, and hides her cousin’s crime. But darker forces than Kat can imagine are warping her family, sowing a bitter harvest she will reap for decades to come. 

• "A blistering comedy."
  People Magazine