Grain in the Blood

Book excerpt: Twelve years ago, from the mouth of a great sacrifice, a child was born. And they called her Autumn. Isaac returns to his family home with a chance to atone for the terrible mistake that claimed his childhood. Autumn is a little girl whose time is running out. With three sleeps left before her birthday, she can only hope for a miracle, or an unexpected act of selflessness. Her grandmother, Sophia, brings them together in a desperate attempt to save her family, at any cost. Set against the eerie backdrop of an isolated rural community and steeped in the folklore of the harvest, Grain in the Blood is a noir-ish thriller exploring a timely moral dilemma: how much are we prepared to sacrifice for the greater good? The play received its world premiere at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, on 18 October 2016, before opening at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, on 1 November 2016.