Spill Simmer Falter Wither
Ireland

Spill Simmer Falter Wither

by Sara Baume

Friendship Literary Fiction 2015

Summary

Ray is a solitary, middle-aged man who has spent most of his life isolated from the world. When he adopts One Eye, a small, scarred dog with a troubled past, the two unlikely companions begin to build a fragile life together. Both are outsiders, accustomed to being misunderstood and keeping their distance from others. But when an unfortunate incident turns their quiet existence upside down, they leave their coastal village and set out on the road, travelling through the Irish countryside.

Told in an intimate, unconventional voice addressed to the dog, Spill Simmer Falter Wither traces a year through the changing seasons. Sara Baume combines lyrical descriptions of the natural world with a moving portrait of loneliness, vulnerability, and unexpected companionship. This tender yet unsentimental novel asks whether two damaged souls can find belonging in one another when the wider world has little room for either of them.

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About the author
Sara Baume
Sara Baume

Sara Baume is an Irish novelist and visual artist born in England in 1984 and raised in County Cork, Ireland. She studied fine art before completing a master’s degree in creative writing at Trinity College Dublin. Her debut novel, Spill Simmer Falter Wither (2015), won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Her second novel, A Line Made by Walking (2017), was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize, while her nonfiction book Handiwork (2020) was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize. Baume’s writing is celebrated for its lyrical prose, close observation of the natural world, and exploration of solitude, human relationships, and the rhythms of everyday life. Her third novel, Seven Steeples (2022), was shortlisted for both the Goldsmiths Prize and the International Dylan Thomas Prize. In 2023, she was named one of Granta magazine’s Best of Young British Novelists. She lives in West Cork, where she continues to work as a writer and visual artist.

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Details
Published
2015
Author
Sara Baume