The Red Mouth, follows the success of her debut Falling Animals, and is described as ‘a haunting, lyrical exploration of how shifting histories can reshape landscape, language and legacies.

According to the acquisition statement: 'Sheila’s writing has received widespread critical acclaim and prize recognition. Her first novel, Falling Animals, was selected as Ireland’s representative for the European Union Prize for Literature 2025, where she was one of two titles to receive a special mention, and now has translation deals in 11 territories. It was one of the Between the Covers feature titles, was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize and was a bookseller’s favourite, chosen as the BA Independent Bookshops Book of the Month and Waterstone’s Irish Book of the Month.'

Bloomsbury also released a synopsis of the new book: 'The Red Mouth is the story of two discoveries made fifty years apart - a human body preserved from two thousand years ago and, later, the skeletons of a herd of mysterious animals long disappeared. The discoveries, and their links, force individuals and communities to confront what has laid dormant for half a century, and to reckon finally with the past.

'When a dog finds a strange, alien antler in a restored bog, the owner’s first thought is to keep it for himself. But when he realises the value of his find, he is drawn back to the rich peat to keep searching. It is not one stag skeleton that is buried there, but dozens.

'Other things have surfaced from the bog, including, fifty years earlier, the mutilated body of a two-thousand-year-old female. A young archaeologist named her Belroe Woman, and dedicated his life to telling the story of her sacrificial death. While state and public treat the bog body as a national treasure, others must reckon with its otherworldly influence over their lives.

'The deep time of the bog is both mystical and sinister, the iron-fed streams running through its soil staining everything they touch. Those bound to it must decide what to bury – and what to unearth.

Armstrong said: "I'm so pleased to be working with Bloomsbury again for my third book. Paul is that rare thing - an editor willing to believe in you even when you don't believe in yourself - and Marianne has been championing me since my first short stories. The Red Mouth (an Béal Rua) is a novel about language, land and legacies, and I hope readers will find the subject half as fascinating as I do."

Baggaley said: "It has been a huge pleasure to publish Sheila Armstrong and to watch her writing develop and her readership grow. There is a unique quality to Sheila’s writing: it is both poetic and direct, humane and uncanny. Whilst writing within an Irish tradition, Sheila addresses universal themes such as the reverberations of history, the power of the natural world, and the challenges to female identity in compelling stories and exquisite prose."

Praise for Sheila Armstrong’s previous work includes:
‘Vivid, sensuous ... A subtle tale of loss, loneliness and disconnection’ Paul Lynch  
‘Lush, lyrical and cleverly-constructed. A beautiful book’ Louise Kennedy
‘Beautifully written ... An unchained sea-melody’ Anne Enright
‘Love shines out clearly in this luminous novel... I absolutely loved it’ Jon McGregor
‘Unsettling, unpredictable, and brilliant’ Roddy Doyle
‘An immensely impressive debut from a major literary talent’ Joseph O'Connor