WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR WRITING 2026 · WINNER OF THE UKLA BOOK AWARD
A vibrant, evocative and magical debut which centres a positive, empowered disabled character at the heart of a reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood.
The woods are hiding a secret... but then so is Red...
Red is not allowed into the woods. Everyone knows that they are dangerous — because of their strange magic and the wolves that roam there.
When the woodcutter fails to return home one night, Red is drawn back to the woods and the place where her grandmother disappeared without a trace three years ago.
But Red is also hiding a secret, and exposing it could ruin her family forever...
Praise
“Full of brilliant, wild, misunderstood girls, this is a feminist tale with teeth and a sharp bite. Beth O'Brien is an exciting new talent.” — Katya Balen, award-winning author of October, October
“A starkly beautiful fairytale. Told in clear, crisp prose, sleek as the song of a wolf, Red, with her mysterious grandmother, forbidden gifts and softly blurred view of the world is a heroine you'll want to follow into the woods at nightfall.” — Cerrie Burnell, author, actor and activist
“Potent, primal and powerful… A masterful debut.” — Lui Sit, author of Land of the Last Wildcat
About the author
Beth O'Brien is an English Literature BA and Creative Writing MA graduate from the University of Birmingham, and the author of four adult poetry books. Born visually impaired and with an upper-limb difference, Beth is passionate about the representation of disability in literature and is currently studying for a PhD researching the (mis)representation of disability in contemporary fairytale retellings. She is the founder and editor of Disabled Tales, a website dedicated to discussing disability in fairytales and folklore. Wolf Siren is her debut novel, illustrated on the cover by Ayesha L. Rubio.
