The Tongue She Speaks

About the Book: 

Glasgow. 2007. Emo culture is thriving, but fifteen-year-old Cathy O’Kelly’s world couldn’t be more insular. It’s her first day at high school. Bullied out of primary, she’s got a new start after two years being taught at home by her Mammy. She’s dreaming of getting the marks she needs to be a proper Scots writer and avoiding getting on the wrong side of the neds. Again. 

But her bully doesn’t wear a tracksuit. Mark’s a third year in an oversized hoodie and Converse. A poet. Or so he wants to be. When he learns of Cathy’s dream, he’s makes it his mission to tear it down — and win her admiration.

Will a chance encounter with a punk band at Glasgow’s seminal underage club save her? Or will a different kind of bully push Cathy further into herself?

Reviews: 

Wi her latest nuvel, grae is gaun fae strenth tae strenth! DR MICHAEL DEMPSTER, Director of The Scots Language Centre

Deep-rooted prejudice against the Scots language is to be explored in a new book that features a bullied teenage schoolgirl as its main protagonist. BRIAN FERGUSSON, The Scotsman

The book gives us all the inspiration to delve intae oor inn'r Scots and try and scrive in Scots anaw! It's also helped light the fire in me of encouraging my classes to use Scots regularly - after all, we aw speak it! SCOTT SHEILDS, The Wee Scottish Book Club

Emma Grae’s new novel paints a portrait of a young life that is both thrilling and moving. JOYCE MCMILLAN, The Scotsman

Grae’s writing has a real edge, addressing not only bullying, grief, and growing pains, but also mental health, therapy, and belonging…The real achievement of The Tongue She Speaks is that it’s simply wonderfully written, and an effortless read. It’s not great because it’s written in Scots: it’s great AND it’s written in Scots. The language is there to enrich and shape the characters. It is integral to who they are. ALISTAIR BRAIDWOOD, Snack Magazine

A pleisure tae hear hou young anes the day, haundle the Scots/English dichotomy. BILLY KAY, author of Scots: the mither tongue

About the Author:

EMMA GRAE is a Scottish author and journalist from Glasgow. She is a passionate advocate of the Scots language and breaking the stigma around mental illness. She has published fiction and poetry in the UK and Ireland since 2014 in journals including The Honest Ulsterman, From Glasgow to Saturn and The Open Mouse. Her debut novel, Be Guid tae yer Mammy, was published by Unbound in August 2021.

As a journalist, she writes under her birth surname, Guinness, and has bylines in a number of publications including Cosmopolitan, the Huffington Post and the Metro. 

Find her on Twitter @emmagraeauthor.