Rachelle Atalla

Following the incredible success of her debut, The Pharmacist, Rachelle Atalla takes us on a captivating journey of survival and self-discovery with Thirsty Animals, a compelling, devastating and thought-provoking novel. We hope you can join us for what promises to be a most exciting evening!

The world is running out of water.

With supply in the Scottish cities drying up, Aida is forced back home to live with her mum at their rural farm. For now, they are safe with just enough to get by.

Yet at the border, tensions are close to breaking point as more and more southerners chase the delusion that Scotland is an eternal spring - while fewer and fewer are allowed through. The service station where Aida works grows emptier with every day. Then, when suspicious strangers arrive at the farm asking for help, Aida and her family face a terrible decision. How much water can they afford to share?

And then, the taps are shut off.

Now they must survive long enough for the rain to come.

Rachelle Atalla is a Scottish-Egyptian novelist, short story writer and screenwriter based in Glasgow. Her short stories have been published widely in literary anthologies and she is the recipient of a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. Her first short film screenplay Trifle was commissioned by the Scottish Film & Talent Network and she is developing her first feature length screenplay with BBC Film.