The Terrible

<p><b>**WINNER of the 2019 PEN Ackerley Prize**<br><br>'A major literary talent . . . speaks about the power and powerlessness that young women are subject to in a wholly fresh clear-eyed way . . . you'll find it hard to come away from <i>The Terrible </i>without a stab of recognition in your chest' <i>Stylist</i> <br></b> <br><i>'You may not run away from the thing that you are<br>because it comes and comes and comes as sure as you breathe.'</i><br><br>This is the story of Yrsa Daley-Ward and all the things that happened - 'even the Terrible Things (and God there were Terrible Things)'. It's about her childhood in the north-west of England with her beautiful careworn mother and her little brother who sees things written in the stars. <br><br>It's also about growing up and discovering the power and fear of sexuality about pitch grey days of pills and powder: going under losing yourself and finding your voice.<br><br> 'Yrsa's work is like holding the truth in your hands' Florence Welch</p>