Armagh County Museum will host the launch of ‘Barren‘, a new novel by local author Byddi Lee, alongside an art exhibition by Frances McKenna on Thursday, April 10 at 7:30pm.
This unique collaboration pairs Lee’s poignant storytelling with McKenna’s evocative artwork, including the book’s cover design.
Both women share personal experiences with baby loss, which informs their creative work and deepens the authenticity of this joint project.
Barren follows the intertwined stories of two grieving women connected across millennia when a magical bronze axe creates a portal between their worlds.
Set primarily in Armagh across two time periods—present day and 2354 BC—the novel highlights the enduring significance of this ancient landscape.
In present-day California, Irish emigrant Aisling struggles with the devastating loss of a pregnancy, while in Neolithic Ireland, huntress Zosime faces both personal grief and communal disaster as her tribe confronts plague and famine in the Armagh region.
As their worlds collide, both women must find healing before time runs out.
The novel has received significant acclaim from literary critics. Award-winning author Sue Divin describes it as, “a story that connects across time, humanity and eternity. Of loss, love and finding lights when our world falls dark.”
Historian and writer Conor Kostick praises it as, “a deeply moving story… filled with so much love that its tale of a journey through calamity and loss is a joy and a life-affirming one.”
Frances McKenna’s accompanying art exhibition complements the themes of the novel. Having connected to her own experience of loss through painting, McKenna was drawn to Lee’s portrayal of how the protagonist’s unborn child communicates through emotions expressed as colors.
“What I loved in Byddi’s story was the connection the lead character had with her miscarried baby,” says McKenna. “The baby communicated to her mother with emotions of colour. I myself completely connected to this as I connect to my own premature lost baby with colour and emotion through painting.”
The exhibition and book launch aim to provide comfort and connection for others who have experienced baby loss, offering a creative exploration of grief, healing, and the enduring bonds between parent and child.
The exhibition will continue at Armagh County Museum until June 28, 2025.
