Lucy Burns

A visceral account of an abortion that is praiseworthy not only for the conversations it will spark, but for its beautiful prose, emotional intensity and unabashed complexity... although there is no happy ending, the book's very existence is hopeful. The point is to start a conversation - and Larger Than an Orange will certainly do that

Boldly innovative, achingly human, and powerfully vulnerable

Dr Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women

Larger Than an Orange provides us with vital nuance, and articulates emotions that feel unspoken, even to women... The importance of Burns's work lies in its permission-giving

Rapturous, engrossing and beautifully impossible

Irreducible. Once read, it will never be forgotten

Particularly courageous... propulsive

A formally innovative, unflinching story that offers a raw, tender and urgent contribution to a vital conversation about bodies, ownership, freedom and reproductive rights

Larger than an Orange... cleverly capture[s] the weight of the convergence of choice and responsibility in an imperfect, unfair world

Lyrical and beautiful... I think it is something all women will feel deeply

Propulsive for its formal innovations, Larger than an Orange uses sparse, exacting prose to delineate important ideas... I was both deeply saddened, and really impressed by it

Susannah Dickey, author of Tennis Lessons

Lucy Burns navigates the complexity of politics and personal experience in this lyrical debut... Raw, intimate and honest, this is a debut that introduces Burns as a poignant new writer carving a space for nuanced and brave storytelling

Many women have written memoirs about pregnancy; very few have written about abortions. Burns does just that, revealing the reality of her termination in graphic but beautifully constructed prose. Burn's feelings about her own abortion are irreducibly complex... This is not an easy read, but it is an important one

*A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021* 
 
'Raw, tender and urgent' Jessica Andrews, author of Saltwater 
 
'Irreducible. Once read, it will never be forgotten' Helen Mort, author of Division Street 
 
This is the story of an abortion. 
 
The days and hours before the first visit to the clinic and the weeks and months after. 
 
The pregnancy was a mistake and the narrator immediately arranges a termination. But a gulf yawns between politics and personal experience. The polarised public debate and the broader cultural silence did not prepare her for the physical event or the emotional aftermath. She finds herself compulsively telling people about the abortion (and counting those who know), struggling at work and researching the procedure. She feels alone in her pain and confusion. 
 
Part diary, part prose poem, part literary collage, Larger than an Orange is an uncompromising, intimate and original memoir. With raw precision and determined honesty, Lucy Burns carves out a new space for complexity, ambivalence and individual experience. 
 
'Lucy Burns' writing on choice and its aftermath is boldly innovative, achingly human, and powerfully vulnerable' Dr Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women 
 
'Rapturous, engrossing and beautifully impossible' Holly Pester, author of Comic Timing

Lucy Burns

Praise for Larger than an Orange

A visceral account of an abortion that is praiseworthy not only for the conversations it will spark, but for its beautiful prose, emotional intensity and unabashed complexity... although there is no happy ending, ...

Boldly innovative, achingly human, and powerfully vulnerable

Larger Than an Orange provides us with vital nuance, and articulates emotions that feel unspoken, even to women... The importance of Burns's work lies in its permission-giving

A visceral account of an abortion that is praiseworthy not only for the conversations it will spark, but for its beautiful prose, emotional intensity and unabashed complexity... although there is no happy ending, ...

Boldly innovative, achingly human, and powerfully vulnerable

Larger Than an Orange provides us with vital nuance, and articulates emotions that feel unspoken, even to women... The importance of Burns's work lies in its permission-giving

A visceral account of an abortion that is praiseworthy not only for the conversations it will spark, but for its beautiful prose, emotional intensity and unabashed complexity... although there is no happy ending, ...

Boldly innovative, achingly human, and powerfully vulnerable

Larger Than an Orange provides us with vital nuance, and articulates emotions that feel unspoken, even to women... The importance of Burns's work lies in its permission-giving

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