The Song of the Stork

Stephan Collishaw was brought up on a Nottingham council estate and failed all of his O'levels. His first novel 'The Last Girl' (2003) was chosen by the Independent on Sunday as one of its Novels of the Year. In 2004 Stephan was selected as one of the British Council's 20 best young British novelists. His brother is the renowned artist, Mat Collishaw. After a 10-year writing hiatus, 'The Song of the Stork' is Stephan's highly anticipated third novel. Stephan now works as a teacher in Nottingham, having also lived and worked abroad in Lithuania and Mallorca, where his son Lukas was born.Follow Stephan on Twitter at @scollishaw

'An elegantly crafted, beautifully written novel about love, survival and hope against all the odds' William Ryan'Tightly written and suspenseful... a darkly compassionate fable of human endurance in absolute extremity' Stevie Davies'A dark jewel that holds up for examination the proximity of terror and savagery to innocence and love' Guy KennawayFifteen-year-old Yael is on the run. The Jewish girl seeks shelter from the Germans on the farm of the village outcast. Aleksei is mute and solitary, but as the brutal winter advances, he reluctantly takes her in and a delicate relationship develops.As her feelings towards Aleksei change, the war intrudes and Yael is forced to join a Jewish partisan group fighting in the woods.Torn apart and fighting for her life, The Song of the Stork is Yael's story of love, hope and survival. It is the story of one woman finding a voice as the voices around her are extinguished.