“Fierce and thrillingly subversive.” —Financial Times

"Katie’s Buckley’s assured debut novel examines female agency and how women are shaped by myths and the expectations of a patriarchal society … a fearless interrogation of female desire, anger and loneliness."—The Guardian

"The novel explores themes of gender, desire, freedom, and the constraints imposed by traditional narratives. Buckley plays with myth and truth to great effect, the prose is taut, the characters authentic." —Glamour

"This bold, clever novel sharply dissects gender, power, desire, and control. Tender and acerbic, Hero recognises the sacrifices women must make to be the authors of our own narratives. Buckley unsettles the reader’s gaze in her excavation of myth-making, asking how we might construct our own legends from the wreckage of our patriarchal history." —Jessica Andrews, author of Saltwater and Milk Teeth

"A lyrical exploration of the love we deserve but rarely receive. Buckley's writing is alchemical, transforming myth into truth and pain into hope." —Amy Twigg, an Observer top ten best new novelist for 2024 and author of Spoilt Creatures

"This book is everything. Intimate, tender and radiant, Hero is an unmissable, immaculate tapestry that fiercely imagines the stories we tell ourselves and the stories that make us." —Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb

‘"A thrilling and dynamic debut from a daring new voice." — Andrew McMillan, award winning poet and author of Pity

"Katie Buckley is a brave and exciting new literary talent. HERO is vivid, imaginative and incisive on what it means to be in love and to be deserving of love. It is the truest representation of the headiness and peril of female longing I’ve ever read. I absolutely loved it." —Kirsty Capes, author of GIRLS and Careless

"Katie has written a book that I now just want to give to every woman I know - especially those precious young women in my life. To steal Katie's own words, Hero made my heart run hot. And cold. Deliciously fierce, smart, insightful, and deftly handled. I wasn't sure how it could end - how I wanted it to end - and what she landed on was pitch perfect, I thought. It is hard to dissect gender and power, to be angry about the diminishing of women and their sense of self, without letting hatred get the upper hand - and none of us needs more hate in the world. But Katie weaves anger with love, pain with a willingness to open up the heart again. It was a treasure. I loved it."
—Joanne Burn, author of The Bone Hunters and The Hemlock Cure