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  • Published: 20 June 2023
  • ISBN: 9781405949422
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 416
  • RRP: $26.00

That Green Eyed Girl

Be transported to mid-century New York in this evocative and page-turning debut




A gripping and evocative debut about the secrets we keep to protect those we love

1955: In an apartment on the Lower East Side, school teachers Dovie and Gillian live as lodgers. Dancing behind closed curtains, mixing cocktails for two, they guard their private lives fiercely. Until someone guesses the truth . . .
1975: Ava Winters is keeping her own secret. Her mother has become erratic, haunted by something Ava doesn't understand - until, one sweltering July morning, she disappears.

After her mother's departure, Ava receives a parcel. If she can discover where it came from, she may find her answers - and meet the woman at the heart of it all. . .

  • Published: 20 June 2023
  • ISBN: 9781405949422
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 416
  • RRP: $26.00

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Praise for That Green Eyed Girl

The mystery at the heart of this novel had me hooked from the start. I spent a weekend sitting in 1950s bars, listening to jazz with Gillian and Dovie, then skipping ahead twenty years to walk the same streets with Ava, remembering the awkwardness of being a teenager. Heartbreaking but with a satisfying ending, I will remember this book for a long time

Louise Hare, author of <i>This Lovely City</i>

Not only assured, pacy and involving, but both heartbreaking and heartmending

Hope Adams, author of <i>Dangerous Women</i>

I've spent the whole day reading this mesmerising book. Such a devastating, gripping story and stunning, powerful writing. Once I started I just could not stop

Aliya Ali-Afzal, author of <i>Would I Lie to You</i>

Loved this . . . I was gripped from the first page and eked out the last chapters as I didn't want to leave the smoky clubs of 1950's Manhattan. A stellar line-up of brave, complicated and bright women . . . prepare to lose yourself in a tale of love, loss and deceit

Sara Cox, Radio 2 DJ and host of BBC 2’s Between the Covers

I so enjoyed That Green Eyed Girl. The atmosphere of city heat and dust and stifling apartments was so vividly evoked. And I was equally invested in both narrative strands . . . I was hooked from the beginning

Clare Chambers, author of <i>Small Pleasures</i>

This book ... wow. So beautifully written, you feel you're there in New York, feeling everything the characters feel. A very original story that will stay with me for a long time

Frances Quinn, author of <i>The Smallest Man</i>

I've just spent a couple of days in mid-century Manhattan, dancing in underground jazz clubs and feeling the sweat of summer on my skin . . . A smoky page-turner

Jodie Chapman, author of <i>Another Life</i>

I loved this. Dovie and Ava are both such compelling characters and the evocation of time and place so strong - I was irresistibly drawn into their stories. Sad, rage-inducing and uplifting - a very emotional read

Harriet Tyce, author of <i>Blood Orange</i>

Wonderful . . . utterly transported me to the jazz bars and stuffy apartments of New York, while telling a moving and compelling story about a time in history I knew little about

Neema Shah, author of <i>Kololo Hill</i>

The pacing is perfect, the voice is striking. Highly recommend.

Nikki May, author of <i>Wahala</i>

A poignant coming of age and a gorgeously romantic and tragic queer love story

Isabel Costello, author of <i>Paris Mon Amour</i>

That Green Eyed Girl takes hold of you and draws you along. I loved the little connective details between the timelines and the unravelling of the gentle mystery of it all. Hits a perfect bittersweet note - I predict big things

Kate Sawyer, author of <i>The Stranding</i>

I so enjoyed [That Green Eyed Girl]. I loved the evocation of NYC, the jazz, and the two storylines . . . so compelling

Melissa Fu, author of <i>Peach Blossom Spring</i>

Made me cry, took me to smoke-filled jazz bars, and made me want to dance. A brilliantly written, evocative and moving novel

Anna Mazzola, author of <i>The Clockwork Girl</i>

A cracking read. Compelling and stylish. I'll be thinking about Ava, Dovie and Gillian for a long time

Claire Alexander, author of <i>Meredith, Alone</i>

Heartbreaking, multi-layered and thoughtfully written, this is a book that stays with you for all the right reasons

Culturefly, 'Books To Look Forward To'

From the killer first sentence until the final page, I was totally gripped by That Green Eyed Girl. Told across two timelines twenty years apart, it's deeply immersive, hugely addictive and, like the girl in the song, it will haunt me

Paul Burston, author of <i>The Closer I Get</i>

A gorgeous, evocative novel that's part love story, part coming of age and part mystery. But all parts are superlative!

Red Online

Julie Owen Moylan expertly places her readers in a New York apartment, where you feel the heat and hear the tinny radio . . . There's a cinematic quality to this novel; the characters are deftly drawn and emotionally engaging, and the plot develops at the right pace, with unexpected twists. An accomplished debut

Woman & Home, BOOK OF THE MONTH

How the three women are connected is tantalisingly revealed in this evocative tale

Good Housekeeping

It's beautifully written and particularly wonderful on forbidden love, loss and forgiveness

Daily Mail

Old school New York, cocktails and jazz bars and pulsing heat. A story of love and loneliness, it's heart-breaking and complex and oh so real. I loved it

Laura Shepherd-Robinson, author of <i>Blood and Sugar</i>

With an intriguing opening line and a camera-like gaze, the author places her readers in a New York apartment, where you feel the heat and hear the tinny radio . . . The characters are deftly drawn and emotionally engaging, and the plot develops at just the right pace, with unexpected twists. An accomplished debut

Woman's Weekly

A gripping tale of jealousy, loyalty and the lengths people will go to in order to protect those they love

My Weekly

Summer sparkles in this book and so does the prose!

Damian Barr

Set in the smoky jazz bars of 1950s New York, this debut novel by Julie Owen Moylan brings to life an array of powerful, bold and complicated women - all of whom have their own stories and secrets. The mystery at hand is soft and gently unfolds to climax into a satisfying but heartbreaking ending

Evening Standard, Best Thrillers Books to read in 2022

With an intriguing opening line and a camera-like gaze, Julie Owen Moylan places her readers in a New York apartment, where you feel the heat and hear the tinny radio . . . There's a sensory filmic quality to this novel - the characters are deftly drawn and the plot develops at just the right pace. A very accomplished debut

Woman

Julie Owen Moylan's astonishingly accomplished debut is both a deftly constructed thriller and a bittersweet love story - expect to hear a lot about it this summer

Waitrose Weekend

Evocative, thought-provoking and incredibly moving

My Weekly

Read this if you want to be transported to NYC to feel the sizzle of summer and experience the smoky, sultry glow of 1950s jazz clubs

InsideKent

Incredibly elegant and sophisticated prose

New Welsh Review

Moving. A sensitive, endearing story

Sunday Mail