Armadillos

A Texas teenager finds a world beyond her abusive family: "Lynch can tell a story deep as a wound... Read this one."—Jeanette Winterson, New York Times -bestselling author of Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Aggie is fifteen-year-old girl, a "sub" from a "sub" family, one of Texas's downtrodden. Her father and brother remind her of that status, week in, week out. She has only the vaguest notion that there is something wrong with the abuse she endures and instead dreams of the outside world. And then one day, Aggie walks out, and like the armadillos that flourish in Texas's barren landscape, she is a survivor... In her escape, she gravitates to those who are just as maltreated as she is. They offer Aggie the sense of family, albeit a thoroughly dysfunctional one, that she's been searching for. But when she gets embroiled in a crisis involving stolen money, Aggie soon realizes there are some problems you can't run away from. "A truly stunning debut."— The Scottish Sun Shortlisted for the Amazon Rising Star Award Longlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker Prize 2016 1 She said the world is divided. She said there are tribes in the world, and countries, and countries at war, and factions within factions within those countries, and basically there's a whole load of fucked up shit going on. But the biggest difference, she said, the biggest basic difference was between people. That's what she said. She said, basically, not all people are people. That is to say, not all people are human. They walk human, they talk human, and in every conceivable way to the untrained eye they are human, but that don't mean shit. I didn't believe her. She said you basically got human people and you got sub people. And we were part of that category. We're the subs. We were sitting in the bedroom and I asked her why it was we were sub. She said it was time I knew and went downstairs. When she came back, she brought company. Seemed I was a woman now, she said, and we kept it in the family. Had done for years. She said. What goes on inside four walls stays behind four walls, and sometimes what goes on behind four walls isn't even talked about there. There was three of them but only two did it. I never liked it none. You knew it was coming. It would start on a Wednesday before Pop came home early for supper. Jojo turned up the volume real loud and we'd bounce to Destiny's Child, one sharp eye trained on the window so we'd know he was coming. Only reason Pop allowed that album in the house was the 'Gospel Medley' slipped in at the end. He didn't know we always skipped that one. Jojo was obsessed with that band: Them's Texas girls, Aggie, and look at 'em now , she told me. Them's God-fearing girls , she told him, good God-fearing girls . She shook that tush like she could dance her way out of our crappy kitchen all the way to a Broadway stage. In reality, she couldn't even dance away from Pop's pinching fingers. He knew how to fill a room, did Pop. We'd all three of us be in the kitchen, Jojo working, quietly humming whichever tune we'd got to before we had to turn it off, and me suddenly with my nose in a book. I did like to read, so it was a convincing lie. Pop would lean back in his chair at the head of the table and stretch his arms out over the wood, stroking it with his big old knobbled hands. You were born on that table, he told me, conceived on it too, and he'd start to laugh. Same every week. I couldn't figure what was so funny. Sometimes he pointed to a stain on the wooden floor beneath it, and told me it was my blood. No laughing then. Shortlisted for the Amazon Rising Star AwardLonglisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize 2016'P.K. Lynch can tell a story deep as a wound ... Read this one' -- Jeanette Winterson'A truly stunning debut' -- Matt Bendoris, The Scottish Sun'Just wonderful, haunting, real' -- Fiona Shaw' ... a brilliant first novel: pacy and un-put-downable.' -- Vicky Feaver**Featured on Radio 4's Woman's Hour**Aggie is fifteen, a 'sub' from a 'sub' family, one of Texas' downtrodden. Her father and brother enact that 'sub'-ness on her, week in, week out. She has only the vaguest notion that there is something wrong with the abuse she endures and instead dreams of the outside world.And then one day, Aggie walks out, and like the armadillos that flourish in Texas' barren landscape, she is a survivor ... In her escape, she gravitates to those who are just as maltreated as her. They offer Aggie the sense of family, albeit a thoroughly dysfunctional one, that she's been searching for. But when she gets embroiled in a crisis involving stolen money, Aggie soon realises there are some problems you can't run away from "Aggie is 15, a 'sub' from a 'sub' family, one of Texas' downtrodden. Her father and brother enact that 'sub'-ness on her, week in, week out. She has only the vaguest notion that there is something wrong with the abuse she endures and instead dreams of the outside world. And then one day, Aggie walks out, and like the armadillos that flourish in Texas' barren landscape, she is a survivor. In her escape, she gravitates to those who are just as maltreated as her. They offer Aggie the sense of family, albeit a thoroughly dysfunctional one, that she's been searching for. But when she gets embroiled in a crisis involving stolen money, Aggie soon realizes there are some problems you can't run away from."--Publisher's description Aggie is fifteen, a sub from a sub family, one of Texas downtrodden. Her father and brother enact that sub-ness on her, week in, week out. She has only the vaguest notion that there is something wrong with the abuse she endures and instead dreams of the outside world. And then one day, Aggie walks out. But, like the armadillos that flourish in Texas barren landscape, she is a survivor. In her escape, she gravitates to those who are just as maltreated as her. They offer Aggie the sense of family, albeit a thoroughly dysfunctional one, that shes been searching for. But when she gets embroiled in a crisis involving stolen money, Aggie soon realises there are some problems you cant run away from. A lead title for Spring 2016, Armadillos is far more than a coming of age story. 'P.K. Lynch can tell a story deep as a wound ... Read this one' -- Jeanette Winterson