- Browse
- Bestsellers
-
Books
-
Popular
Sports
Fiction
Health
Creative
Home & Garden
- Agriculture & Veterinary
- Antiques
- Architecture & Interiors
- Cookery
- Crafts
- D.I.Y.
- Gardening
- Wine & Beverages
Leisure
Irish
- Irish Fiction
- Irish History
- Irish Interest
- Irish Plays & Poetry
- Learn Irish
- Books As Gaeilge
- Limerick & Clare Books
- Genealogy
Other Categories
Book Awards
- Booker Prize
- CBI Book Awards
- Dublin Literary Award
- Irish Book Awards
- Nero Book Awards
- Pulitzer Prize
- Women's Prize for Fiction
- New Adult Book Prize
Specials
Recommended
Gift Wrap Service
-
- Children's
-
Gifts & Stationery
-
Popular
Gift Ideas
Games & Jigsaws
Childrens
Social Stationery
- Moleskine
- Leuchtturm
- Filofax
- Rhodia Notebook Range
- Clairefontaine Paper Brand
- Social Stationery
- Notecards
- Writing Sets
- Photo Albums
- Pens and Refills
- Gift Packaging
- Kids Social Stationery
Stationery
Occasions
Gift Wrap Service
-
- Third Level
- School Supplies
Red Mouth
€ 18.75
ISBN: 9781526691132
From a rising star in literary fiction comes a story of two discoveries made deep in an Irish bogland, threading together four lives across time.
When a dog finds a strange, alien antler in a restored bog, the owner's first thought is to keep it for himself. But when he realises the value of his find, he is drawn back to the rich peat to keep searching.
It is not one stag skeleton that is buried there, but dozens – an ancient dying ground of the Great Irish Elk. Other things have surfaced from the bog: prehistoric settlements, bronze cauldrons, ancient butter, iron weapons – and the mutilated body of a two-thousand-year-old female. Fifty years ago, a young archaeologist named her Belroe Woman, and dedicated his life to telling the story of her sacrificial death.
While state and public treat the bog body as a national treasure, others must reckon with its otherworldly influence over their lives: the peat-cutter who first unearthed her and carries this discovery like a curse; the archaeologist's daughter who grows up in the shadow of the bog's strange magnetism; and the young environmental scientist whose work draws her back to where it all began.
From antler to bog body, The Red Mouth – an béal rua – is a haunting, lyrical exploration of how shifting histories can reshape landscape, language and legacies. The deep time of the bog is both mystical and sinister, the iron-fed streams running through its soil staining everything they touch.
Those bound to it must decide what to bury – and what to unearth.
PRAISE FOR SHEILA ARMSTRONG:
'Unsettling, unpredictable, and brilliant' Roddy Doyle
'Vivid, sensuous ... A subtle tale of loss, loneliness and disconnection' Paul Lynch
'Lush, lyrical and cleverly constructed. A beautiful book' Louise Kennedy
'Beautifully written ... An unchained sea melody' Anne Enright
'Writes complex and troubling stories with such unflinching graciousness' Jan Carson
240 pages.
Not Yet Published.
Printed on or after 02/07/26. Please note dispatch may take 5-10 days after publication date.
A separate order should be placed for this item. If you order this along with other items, your entire order will be held and despatched when complete.
Date of Publication: 02/07/2026
Trade Paperback
