Life Cycle of a Moth

By: Rowe Irvin

Narrated by: Kristin Atherton

AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT OF 2025

'Astonishing' LUCY ROSE
'Biting and rich' MOLLY AITKEN
'Unforgettable' OBSERVER
'A novel of rare power' GABRIELLE GRIFFITHS

An itchy feeling.
A wrinkle in the forest.
A cracking twig.
A coming sound.

Myma, do you hear it?
Myma, do you hear?
Myma?

Maya and Daughter live in complete isolation in a secluded woodland, their days aligned with the light and changing seasons, a complex pattern of routine and ritual. Daughter has never questioned the life her mother has chosen for them; the life that has meant she’s never met another soul, or known anywhere except their forest home.

But one day, when Daughter is almost sixteen, a red-haired stranger steps into the confines of their territory. Where there was always two, suddenly there are three – and the carefully constructed world that Maya has built to keep her daughter safe may not survive it.

Urgent, haunting and thrillingly alive, Life Cycle of a Moth explores both the tenderness and ferocity of maternal love, asking what we might find ourselves capable of – and willing to sacrifice – in order to shelter those we hold dear.©2025 Rowe Irvin (P)2025 Canongate Books

Critic reviews

'A beautiful debut. It's rare that a novel feels so much like a little world to escape into, albeit at times a very bleak one, but everything here was so thoroughly and tenderly well-realised, the sense of ceremony and indoctrination, the details of nature. An allegory about the fragile times we live in and the terrible challenges of protecting our way of life and the creatures we love' (SARA BAUME)