Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel
New home, new name and newly thirty: Phoebe Forde has stepped into emigrant life in Copenhagen with her anxious dog, Dolly.
Almost three years into her gender transition, she has learned to move through the world carefully, savouring small moments of joy. A woman without a past can be anyone she wants - that is, until an unexpected visit from Grace, her first love, brings memories of Dublin and a life she thought she'd left behind. Over the course of a single weekend, as their old romance kindles something sweet and radically unfamiliar, Grace helps Phoebe to navigate the jagged edges of migration, nostalgia and hope.
About the Author
Soula Emmanuel is a trans writer who was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and a Greek father. She attended university in Ireland and Sweden, graduating with a master’s in demography which she likes to think inspired her interest in society’s outliers. She has written for IMAGE magazine, Rogue Collective and the Project Arts Centre, and has had fiction published by The Liminal Review. She was longlisted for Penguin’s WriteNow programme in 2020, took part in the Stinging Fly fiction summer school in 2021 and was a participant in the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency’s mentorship programme for 2021-22. She currently lives on Ireland’s east coast.
Praise for Wild Geese
“Wild Geese is proof that Soula is the most exciting new voice in Irish writing”
– Barry Pierce, i-D
“Soula Emmanuel’s prose is breathtaking: searingly sharp, deliciously funny, profound. Wild Geese is a beautiful and devastating read. An extraordinary debut. I loved this deeply intelligent and emotionally powerful novel”
– Danielle McLaughlin, author of Dinosaurs on Other Planets and The Art of Falling
“Wild Geese is heartfelt, thought-provoking and beautifully crafted. Soula Emmanuel is a phenomenal talent”
– Laura Kay, author of Tell Me Everything and The Split
“Phoebe Forde, an Irish trans woman living in Scandinavia, illustrates with insight, candor and wit, the chrysalis of loneliness in which she, and others perhaps, find themselves living. I am reminded that some women still have to leave Ireland for the chance to become themselves. Wild Geese is an intimate and deeply affecting portrait. Destined to be a classic of migrant literature”
– Carmel McMahon, author of In Ordinary Time
Publisher: Footnote Press
Date Published: 30 March, 2023
Hardback, 240 pages
ISBN: 9781804440148
