The Conviction of Cora Burns

Short-listed for the Crimefest/Specsavers Debut Crime Fiction Award 2020 Longlisted for the Historical Writers Association (HWA) Debut Crown award 2019 To believe in her future, she must uncover her past... Birmingham, 1885. Born in a gaol and raised in a workhouse, Cora Burns has always struggled to control the violence inside her. Haunted by memories of a terrible crime, she seeks a new life working as a servant in the house of scientist Thomas Jerwood. Here, Cora befriends a young girl, Violet, who seems to be the subject of a living experiment. But is Jerwood also secretly studying Cora...? With the power and intrigue of Laura Purcell'sThe Silent Companionsand Sarah Schmidt'sSee What I Have Done, Carolyn Kirby's stunning debut takes the reader on a heart-breaking journey through Victorian Birmingham and questions where we first learn violence: from our scars or from our hearts.

Carolyn Kirby is the author of two novels. The Conviction of Cora Burns was longlisted for the Historical Writers' Association Debut Crown Award and shortlisted for the Specsavers Debut Crime Fiction Award. When We Fall, published in May 2020, was chosen by The Times as one of the best novels of 2020 and described by the Daily Mail as 'a terrific World War II novel'. Carolyn studied history at St Hilda's College, Oxford. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked in social housing and as a teacher. She has two grown-up daughters and lives with her husband in rural Oxfordshire.