A Swift Pure Cry is a 2006 novel by Siobhan Dowd about a teenager named Shell who lives in County Cork, Ireland.

A Swift Pure Cry opens a year after the mother of fifteen-year-old Michelle "Shell" Talent dies, leaving her husband and three children to cope with her death.

The eldest of the children, Shell is given the responsibility to care for her younger siblings as well as continue attending school as their father changes drastically.

When a new priest, Father Rose, comes to their village, Coolbar, Shell begins to believe once again in Jesus and in her mother's spirit.

However, her father is also changed by religion; he quits his job to only collect money for church drives, leaving Shell and her family in poverty.

As Shell feels more and more isolated from normal family life, she becomes involved with Declan, who makes her promise not to tell anyone, so he can continue seeing Bridie as well.

She manages to hide the pregnancy from her father and gives birth to a stillborn child around Christmas, whom she names Rose, for the priest.

In the end, it is revealed that Bridie was also pregnant from Declan and gave birth around the same time as Shell, but her child survived.

Concluding, Shell returns to school and Father Rose is transferred to another location in Ireland for training.

[2] The first event occurred in 1984 when a fifteen-year-old girl, Ann Lovett, died from blood loss and exposure while trying to give birth on her own.