Shaping Scotland's Stories - Spring/Summer 2022 Scotland's Publishers
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Scotland’s Publishers Shaping Scotland’s Stories Spring/Summer 2022
Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 Introduction
Welcome
Publishing Scotland is delighted to be taking part in 2022’s Year
of Scotland’s Stories. Over the year we will be showcasing the
work of our wonderful member publishers, those at the forefront
of shaping Scotland’s stories and bringing them to readers
across the country.
So we welcome you to this Spring catalogue, packed full of books that connect
to the Year of Scotland’s Stories primary themes: Iconic Stories and Storytellers;
New Stories; Scotland’s People and Places; Local Tales and Legends; and
Inspired by Nature.
Scotland’s stories are rich and varied, and our publishers will continue to share these
stories, contributing to our national culture and conversation. We can celebrate
our heroes, those on the world’s stage or within our communities; we can marvel
at the beauty that surrounds us, and laugh at our foibles and frailties; we can look
at ourselves truthfully, and decide on our future; and we can do all these things
through the stories we stories we create, the stories we share.
We hope you are inspired by what you find within these pages, whether you’re
looking for classic novels, dynamic histories, exciting new voices, stunning
landscapes or brilliant children’s books. And, as ever, we are grateful to Scotland’s
booksellers and librarians in helping you find the stories that show us who we are.
Contents
Page 3 – Iconic Stories and Storytellers
Page 16 – New Stories
Page 22 – Scotland’s People and Places
Page 43 – Local Tales and Legends
Page 51 – Inspired by Nature
2 1
Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 Introduction
Hannah Lavery
The Gaithering
We’re delighted to open our catalogue with a specially
commissioned poem by Hannah Lavery, Edinburgh makar
and award-winning poet, playwright and performer.
Wait, while I tell ye... Gossiping
wi haunds held
aw whits bin collecting in closes, in forests
swirling wi the words
wi’ve saved up like stamps. up the high street, by shore
by oor screens – alone.
Here, I’ve things to tell ye
stories that’ve bin Wait, will ye?
chapping on my door.
Let me tell ye
Stories my stories
fae aw of us
preserve them wi ye
that’ve bin
gaithering here.
like jam, like chutney, like aiples
Shaping Scotland’s Stories
Iconic Stories
like days so sweet wi
Coming doon anely bring them oot
wi the burns, swimming in company – amongst friends.
in the sea, the lochs, the local pool
and Storytellers
milling in the quiet corners, in the loud, Stories so treasured, we store them
in the open air like china dugs in glass cabinets
aw wild,like.
haundling them wi care, afore passing
them on.
Celebrate Scotland’s legendary writers and classic books,
Hannah Lavery’s poetry collection Blood Salt Spring is released in March 2022, our astonishing artists and the people and moments that
priced £9.99. have defined our history.
2 3
Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 Iconic Stories and Storytellers
The Golden Treasury Burns for Every Beyond the Swelkie Lanark: A Life
of Scottish Verse Day of the Year Ed. Jim Mackintosh in Four Books
Ed. Kathleen Jamie, Pauline Mackay and Paul S Philippou Alasdair Gray
Don Paterson and Black and White, Tippermuir Books, Canongate Books,
Peter Mackay £20, Poetry £12.99, Anthology £20, Fiction
Canongate Books, Join Robert Burns on a A truly marvellous 40th anniversary
£30, Poetry wide-ranging journey smörgåsbord of commemorative
A timeless gift edition of poetry, prose and writing that celebrates hardback edition of
of the greatest poetic song through every and acknowledges the modern classic.
works from Scotland’s day of the year . . . George Mackay
literary past, present Take 366 daily dips Brown’s contribution
and future. into Burns to inspire, to twentieth-century
invigorate and amuse. poetry and literature.
Sir Walter Scott: Josephine Tey: A Life Sunset Song Tuathanas
A Life in Story Jennifer Morag Lewis Grassic Gibbon nan Creutairean
Eileen Dunlop Henderson Canongate Books, George Orwell, trans.
NMS Enterprises, Sandstone Press, £12.99, Fiction Angus Peter Campbell
£9.99, Biography £14.99, Biography The Scottish Luath Press, £7.99,
The old stories of Josephine Tey was the masterpiece, Gaelic Fiction
his Scottish Borders pen-name of Elizabeth introduced by The first Scottish
home and his MacKintosh. Best First Minister Gaelic translation
ancestors were vital known as Golden Age Nicola Sturgeon. of George Orwell’s
to Scott’s sense of Crime Fiction writer Animal Farm by famed
self and, as this very Tey, she was also a Gaelic author Angus
readable account successful novelist Peter Campbell.
shows, inspired and and playwright.
influenced his writing.
A Friendship in Letters The Burning Glass The Strange Case of The Prime of
Ed. Dr Michael Shaw Jenni Calder Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Miss Jean Brodie
Sandstone Press, Sandstone Press, Robert Louis Stevenson Muriel Spark
£11.99, Biography £9.99, Biography Barrington Stoke, Barrington Stoke,
For years, J. M. Barrie’s Naomi Mitchison was £7.99, Teen £7.99, Teen
letters to Robert a novelist, socialist, Stevenson’s classic Muriel Spark’s timeless
Louis Stevenson feminist and tireless story of split and eternally modern
were presumed lost. campaigner for sexual personalities lurking novel of power and
Discovered and edited freedom. She lived beneath the prim influence, brought to
by Shaw, the authors’ through the entire of Victorian society, life for a new age of
full correspondence twentieth century available in an readers in a brilliant
shows a dynamic and wrote more accessible format dyslexia-friendly
literary friendship. than seventy books. for all readers. edition.
4 5
Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 Iconic Stories and Storytellers The Dark Remains Forty wasn’t too far away, either. He felt it college dropout whose ambition of becom- ‘You should enjoy life more, son. Your face encircling his thickening waist. His knees ing a social worker had led him to too close is tripping you.’ complained when faced with too many an association with the various groupings of The man’s breath was like a blowtorch, stairs. His eyes were under strain and feral young men. It had become like a drug and Laidlaw wondered why it was that after he doubted he could chase a suspect to him, and eventually, having attempted a drink so many Glaswegians turned into the the length of any street worth the name. to broker peace between the Cumbie and Ancient Mariner, eager to share their stories Wiping condensation from the bus window, other gangs such as the Calton Toi, he’d and wisdom with complete strangers. This he looked out at a sky belched from the been offered no choice but to take sides. particular example boasted a rolled-up chimneys of the crumbling tenements, the The Cumbie had become his tribe and soon newspaper, which he wielded like a baton, same smoke that clung to the various civic enough he’d been crowned their king. It as if he could conduct the world. buildings, once grandly Victorian but now helped that he was a gifted amateur boxer. ‘At least it’s only my face that’s tripping me,’ in danger of being swamped by modernity. A ‘square go’ held few fears for him – in a Laidlaw responded. ‘Your whole life seems Old habitats were being demolished, shiny fair fight, he would almost always win. But to be one long bout of falling over.’ He ges- towering replacements planned, a motor- he was cunning, too, meaning even unfair tured towards the rips in the man’s trousers way carving its way through the city. Forget fights went his way. and the elbows of his worn-out jacket. the old certitudes; they would soon be Laidlaw was aware of a bit of history be- The man studied him, taking a step back crushed underfoot like a fag end beneath a tween Chisholm and Milligan. Arrests made; as if to help him focus. ‘You look like an actor, platform-soled shoe. Laidlaw didn’t doubt, charges dropped. Milligan was strapping on son. Have I seen you in anything?’ though, that the replenished housing stock a pair of blinkers to go with his boxing gloves, ‘We’re all actors in this town, haven’t you would fail to do much for Glasgow’s in- ready to enter the ring again. noticed? You’re acting right now.’ grained problems. Behind new glazing and ‘What this graffiti tells me,’ he had pon- ‘Am I?’ harling he’d be sure still to find poverty, tificated for the benefit of the room, ‘is that ‘Badly – but even bad acting deserves the loveless marriages, drunken aggression, the Cumbie are encroaching on Calton occasional round of applause.’ Laidlaw dug a sectarian bile, like angry tattoos hidden turf. A stabbing is one hell of a calling card, few coins from his pocket and placed them under a laundered shirt. wouldn’t you agree?’ His eyes had fixed on in the man’s hand. ‘Should cover your bus He was only vaguely aware of his sur- Laidlaw as he’d said this, as if daring him to fare. Either that or a paper from this week roundings as he got off the bus at its next shake his head. What would have been the rather than last.’ stop and crossed the road to await another point? The crime squad office was hardly There was a double-decker drawing back into town. The attempt to erase the the forum in Rome, and Laidlaw doubted towards them at that moment. Laidlaw memory of the briefing wasn’t working. anyone gathered there would have looked gestured for the old man to precede him He was seeing Milligan standing in front good in a toga. Ever since Lilley and Laidlaw aboard, but then stood his ground and told The Dark Remains of his attentive audience, never happier had returned from the mortuary, Milligan the clippie he’d wait for the next one. The William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin than when issuing orders and offering the- had been waiting for them to complain that new passenger stared in bemusement Canongate Books, £8.99, Fiction ories as if they were diamond-hard facts. their trip there had been a waste of time. from the window as the bell rang and the A wall of black and white photographs Neither man had done so, purely to deprive bus pulled away, depriving him of his audi- acted as scenery to his soliloquy. One of him of that pleasure. ence. Laidlaw didn’t doubt he would soon them showed graffiti on the rear wall of the Lighting another cigarette, Laidlaw find another. Parlour, left there by the Gorbals Cumbie, became aware of a stooped old-timer with a teenage gang whose current leader was rheumy eyes who had joined the bus queue called Malky Chisholm. Chisholm was a behind him. 6 7
Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 Iconic Stories and Storytellers
His Bloody Project The Jewel Hag Storm The Shanter Legacy
Graeme Macrae Burnet Catherine Czerkawska Victoria Williamson, Garry Stewart
Saraband, £8.99, Saraband, £8.99, illus. Elise Carmichael Tippermuir Books,
Fiction Fiction Cranachan, £7.99, 8+ £8.99, 8+
The Booker This novel explores When 12-year-old Rab An imagined
shortlisted story of Jean Armour’s finds a mysterious sequel to Robert
a triple murder in an passionate love affair hag stone, he sees Burns classic poem,
unforgiving landscape. and enduring marriage witches coming to ‘Tam o’ Shanter’. Fiona
Here, power is to Robert Burns. claim his sisters for and her wee brother
arbitrary, and exposes Its long and rocky their coven in this Finn are swept into a
the slippery nature of course reveals Jean’s historical adventure strange mystical world
sanity, responsibility indomitable strength based on the life of to find Meg’s tail.
and truth itself. and character. Robert Burns.
Miss Blaine’s Prefect What We The Evil Within Scotland’s
and the Weird Sisters Did in the Dark Catherine MacPhail Greatest Storyteller
Olga Wojtas Ajay Close Barrington Stoke, Alasdair Hutton
Saraband, £9.99, Sandstone Press, £7.99, 8+ Curly Tale Books,
Fiction £8.99, Fiction An atmospheric and £8.99, 10+
Impeccably educated The young Catherine haunting imagining of How the young Walter
and remarkably Carswell longs for a classic tale which Scott used his Borders
accomplished, Shona adventure, and a follows young Henry childhood, his vivid
McMonagle is on whirlwind romance Jekyll’s childhood and imagination and
a mission involving with Herbert Jackson his transformation into incredible memory to
Macbeth, the weird provides what she the infamous Mr Hyde. become Scotland’s
sisters and a black cat. craves. But the greatest author.
romance soon
turns to nightmare.
Harry Potter and the The Gruffulo in Scots Mustard & Pepper There Was
Philosopher’s Stane Julia Donaldson, trans. Alasdair Hutton a Wee Lassie Who
J. K. Rowling, trans. James Robertson Curly Tale Books, Swallowed a Midgie
Matthew Fitt Black and White, £7.99, 5+ Rebecca Colby, illus.
Black and White, £6.99, 5+ Join Sir Walter Scott’s Kate McLelland
£8.99, 8+ Everybody loves The children and their Floris Books, £6.99, 3+
Since 2002, Itchy Coo Gruffalo. You can now dogs on a hunt A hilarious Scottish
has been wowing enjoy this children’s around Abbotsford twist on a much-
young readers with classic for the very first for a missing loved rhyme sees the
bold new translations. time in Scots to delight necklace. Will the wee lassie swallow a
This Scots translation both children and Dandie Dinmonts succession of Scottish
of the children’s classic adults alike. save the day? animals – all to catch
contains just as much the midgie.
magic as the original!
8 9
Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 Iconic Stories and Storytellers
Aboard the Bulger Auntie Robbo Women Hold Where are
Ann Scott-Moncrieff, Ann Scott-Moncrieff, Up Half the Sky the Women?
illust. C.L. Davidson illust. Christopher Ed. Robert Davidson Sara Sheridan
Scotland Street Brooker Sandstone Press, Historic Environment
Press, £9.99, 8+ Scotland Street £15.99, Current Affairs Scotland, £9.99, History
In 1934 five children Press, £9.99, 8+ Independently Where are the
escape from a Hector lives happily selected by Davidson, women? They’ve
cruel orphanage, near Edinburgh with this collection of been here all along.
commandeer a his aunt until a step- speeches addresses Now is the time to
magical steamship mother arrives from such crucial matters look at our heritage
and go on adventures England. Aunt and as the climate crisis, and bring those
around the Hebridean nephew run away education, human women who have
Islands. to the highlands to rights and the been ignored to light.
escape her clutches. European Union.
Light On Dumyat Speed Bonnie Boat Daughters The Queen’s Lender
Rennie McOwan, Alfredo Belli of the North Jean Findlay
illust. Damien Cifelli Floris Books, £6.99, 5+ Jennifer Scotland Street
Rowan Tree Explore the story Morag Henderson Press, £12.99, Fiction
Publishing, £7.99, 8+ behind the famous Sandstone Press, The story of George
Set in the Ochil Hills Scottish folksong £24.99, History Heriot, historic
close to the city of with this beautifully A biography following benefactor of
Stirling, this classic illustrated retelling Countess Jean Gordon Edinburgh, who
adventure novel, of Bonnie Prince from the intrigues makes his fortune
tells of The Clan, Charlie’s heroic of the court of Mary, as Queen Anne’s
four intrepid children journey. Queen of Scots to the Jeweller.
whose adventures blood feuds and clan
take place in the battles.
great outdoors.
Three Craws Ye Cannae Shove The Amazing Life of The Dangerous
Melanie Mitchell Yer Granny Off A Bus Mary, Queen of Scots Lives of the Jacobites
Floris Books, £6.99, 1+ Kathryn Selbert Gill Arbuthnott, Linda Strachan,
A playful re-imagining Floris Books, £6.99, 1+ illust. Mike Phillips illust. Darren Gate
of the traditional A brilliantly cheeky Floris Books, £6.99, 7+ Floris Books, £6.99, 7+
Scottish rhyme filled re-imagining of the Step into the sixteenth Discover what life
with bright illustrations classic Scottish rhyme century for a unique was like during the
and lots of lift-the- where you can actually glimpse into the Jacobite risings, as
flaps fun! push Granny off the dramatic life of Mary, told by siblings Rob,
bus – with fun moving Queen of Scots. a soldier in Bonnie
parts and toddler- Fascinating facts and Prince Charlie’s army,
friendly flaps to lift! diagrams are paired and Aggie, healing
with lively illustrations. soldiers at the croft.
10 11
Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 Iconic Stories and Storytellers
Declarations The Honours Monarch of the Glen A New Era
on Freedom for of Scotland Christopher Baker National Galleries
Writers & Readers Chris Tabraham National Galleries of Scotland, £19.99, Art
Preface by Historic Environment of Scotland, £9.99, Art A New Era examines
Sir Tom Devine Scotland, £9.99, History This is the first book the work of Scottish
Scotland Street Press, The Honours of to focus in detail on artists during the
£9.99, Anthology Scotland tells the Sir Edwin Landseer’s early 20th century.
An anthology turbulent story of the iconic picture, The It features works by
including some of Honours – Scotland’s Monarch of the Glen. It high-profile artists
Scotland’s leading crown jewels – and the explores the painting’s such as William
writers on the topic equally dramatic tale history, high-profile Gillies, and lesser-
of their views on this of the Stone of Destiny. commission and known talents like
historic document. enduring reputation. Tom Pow.
The Secret The Art of Tweed The Scottish Modern Scottish
Life of Tartan Vixy Rae Colourists 1900–1930 Women
Vixy Rae Black and White, Philip Long, Alice Strang et al.
Black and White, £14.99, Fashion Elizabeth Cumming National Galleries
£25, Fashion The Art of Tweed National Galleries of Scotland, £19.99, Art
Tartan evokes history, explores the of Scotland, Concentrates on
kinship, tradition, landscapes, textures £24.99, Art Scottish women
romance, irreverence, and patterns of A revised edition of a painters and sculptors
fashion and style. this glorious fabric. perennially popular from 1885 until
The book unravels It is a story of book covering the 1965. It explores
the truths and the romance, nostalgia, lives and work of the the experience and
myths of the cloth sustainability artists known as the context of the artists
that shaped a nation. and style. Scottish Colourists. and their place in
Scottish art history.
Crucible of Nations 100 Masterpieces Alison Watt A Perfect Chemistry
Adrián Maldonado National Galleries of Alison Watt, Julie Anne M. Lyden
NMS Enterprises Scotland Collection Lawson, Tom National Galleries
– Publishing, £25, Sir John Leighton Normand & of Scotland, £19.95, Art
History National Galleries Andrew O’Hagan The book features
A new look at National of Scotland, National Galleries over 100 of Hill
Museums Scotland £24.95, Art of Scotland, £20, Art and Adamson’s
collections covering 100 of the National Renowned artist groundbreaking
the period 800–1200. Galleries of Scotland’s Alison Watt responds masterpieces. Their
The book offers new best-loved treasures to the delicacy in Allan photographs of
perspectives on star are selected by the Ramsay’s portraits with scenes in and around
objects which have Director-General Sir sixteen emphatically Edinburgh offer a
been on display for John Leighton. modern new paintings glimpse into 1840s
decades. of her own. Scotland.
12 13
Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 Iconic Stories and Storytellers
Baggage: Tales from The Real Stanley Baxter
a Fully Packed Life
Alan Cumming
Brian Beacom
Luath Press, £9.99,
Top Ten: Capital Storytelling
Canongate Books, Biography
£9.99, Biography How could a brilliant Our Favourite Edinburgh Novels
From the bestselling comedy actor make
author of Not My millions of people
Father’s Son comes a laugh over four
joyous book about the decades yet find
world of professional personal happiness
acting and how every elusive? The secret
experience shapes life of Stanley Baxter
who you are. is now revealed...
That Guy Fae My Name’5 Doddie
the Corries Doddie Weir The Prime of 44 Scotland Trainspotting The Library Knots and
Ronnie Browne Black and White, Miss Jean Brodie Street Irvine Welsh of the Dead Crosses
Sandstone Press, £9.99, Biography Muriel Spark Alexander Welsh’s iconic T. L. Huchu Ian Rankin
£9.99, Biography Follows the McCall Smith novel shows the T. L. Huchu When talking
Rugby legend and
With his musical MND campaigner passionate, Revolves around grittier side of brings a futuristic, of Edinburgh in
partner, Roy Doddie Weir has free-thinking and the comings and the capital city gothic flavour to fiction, we must
Williamson, Ronnie always lived life to the unconventional goings at No. 44 with sex, drugs, his novel, the first include a nod
Browne became full. His autobiography teacher Miss Scotland Street violence and in his Edinburgh to the Inspector
a national and is a humbling, Brodie. in Edinburgh. petty crime. Nights series. Rebus series.
international figure courageous and very
as one half of funny celebration of
The Corries. a remarkable life.
We Had A Dream A Work of Beauty
Steve Finan Alexander
DC Thomson, McCall Smith
£19.99, Sport Historic Environment
This high-quality Scotland, £14.99, Art
hardback gift book Edinburgh is a city Luckenbooth The Game The Fanatic The Way of All The Home
contains hundreds of of stories – a place Jenni Fagan of Kings James Robertson Flesh Corner
never-before-seen that has witnessed Mesmerizing, Dorothy Dunnett Robertson’s Ambrose Parry Ruth Thomas
photos of the great everything from great bedazzling One of Scotland’s debut novel Masterful Subtle and
old games, the great historical upheavals to novel tells the finest historical telling a dual historical crime tender portrait
names, and the best the individual lives of stories of the fiction novels, narrative of taking the reader of the confusing
of times. a remarkable cast residents of 10 introducing you to Edinburgh in the into the dark transition into
of characters. Luckenbooth superspy Francis 1990s and 1670s. heart of Victorian adulthood.
Close. Crawford. Edinburgh.
14 15
Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 New Stories
Break in Case We Were Always Here
of Silence Ed. Ryan Vance
Ed. Rachelle Atalla and Michael Lee
and Marjorie Lotfi Richardson
ASLS, £9.95, 404 Ink, £8.99,
Literary Anthology Literary Anthology
New Writing Scotland From drag queens and
publishes the best new discos, to black holes
work from emerging and monsters, these
and established stories and poems
writers. wrestle with love and
loneliness and the
fight to be seen.
Let Me Tell You This At Least This I Know
Nadine Aisha Jassat Andrés N. Ordorica
404 Ink, £8.99, Poetry 404 Ink, £9.99, Poetry
A vital exploration of The powerful debut
racism, gender-based collection from
violence, and the Andrés N. Ordorica
sustaining, restorative exploring ancestry,
bonds between racism, nationhood,
women, told with activism and
Jassat’s characteristic queerness in a journey
and searing precision through childhood
and intelligent to adulthood.
lyricism.
Checkpoint Linne Dhomhain
Joe Donnelly Alistair Paul
404 Ink, £9.99, Luath Press, £8.99,
Shaping Scotland’s Stories Biography
Inspired by Joe’s
Gaelic Short Stories
Taking inspiration
experience navigating from local folklore on
New Stories
depression, the island of Arran,
Checkpoint reflects on traditional Gaelic
the comforting and story telling themes
healing effect video and techniques are
games can have both weaved into modern
Showcasing Scotland’s up-and-coming writers and stories on mental health both topics such as
personally and on a relationships, drug use
from around the country that will shape our future. wider scale. and mental illness.
16 17Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 New Stories
Hings Mayhem & Death The Nowhere Guardians of
Chris McQueer Helen McClory Emporium the Wild Unicorns
404 Ink, £8.99, 404 Ink, £8.99, Ross MacKenzie Lindsay Littleson
Short Stories Short Stories Floris Books, £7.99, 8+ Floris Books, £7.99, 8+
From one of the McClory delves deep When the mysterious Best friends Lewis
country’s most hilarious into descriptively Nowhere Emporium and Rhona are caught
writers: Hings. Putting mythical yet arrives in Glasgow, up in a dangerous
surreal twists on the recognisable stories orphan Daniel adventure to save
everyday, McQueer woven from dark and gets drawn into its the world’s last herd
creates recognisable light. Atmospheric and magical world. A riot of wild unicorns.
characters you will engulfing short stories. of imagination and Can they rescue the
love and want to fantasy. legendary creatures
avoid like the plague. in time?
The Arena Crocodile The Fox Girl and Becoming Mila
of the Unwell Daniel Shand the White Gazelle Estelle Maskame
Liam Konemann Sandstone Press, Victoria Williamson Black and White,
404 Ink, £9.99, Fiction £8.99, Fiction Floris Books, £7.99, 8+ £9.99, YA
When Noah’s Chloe’s been sent Twelve-year-old The first book in an
favourite band Smiling to her grandparents refugee Reema addictive new trilogy
Politely return, he because her mother and her Glaswegian from Scotland’s
meets the enigmatic can’t cope. All neighbour Caylin form international bestseller
Dylan and is drawn Chloe wants is to go an unlikely friendship. Estelle Maskame,
into a co-dependent home, but when she A beautiful, lyrical shimmering with
relationship, and befriends local boys, story of displacement love, friendship,
everything changes. life takes a darker turn. and belonging. family frictions, music
– and lots of romance.
Daisy on the Anna Us vs the World Fake Flowers
Outer Line Laura Guthrie Catriona Child Graham Lironi
Ross Sayers Cranachan, £8.99, YA Luath Press, Rymour Books,
Cranachan, £8.99, YA Thirteen-year-old £9.99, Fiction £10.99, Fiction
When selfish student Anna has Asperger’s. The third book from Edinburgh faces a
Daisy trashes her When her father dies rising star novelist terrorist threat during
stepdad’s funeral, she moves to Scotland Catriona Child. Us the Festival. A fast-
she gets blind drunk to face her reclusive Versus the World is paced caper with a
and wakes up on the mother, her past, and a truly unique story surreal slant pausing
Glasgow subway to the challenges of a of resilience, bonds only to ponder the
find she has travelled new life in this life- between families and blurred boundaries
back in time… affirming debut. the nature of grief. between forgery
and faithfulness.
18 19Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 New Stories
Phosphate Rocks In a Veil of Mist Scottish Blood Legacy
Fiona Erskine Donald S. Murray by Inclination Alex Renton
Sandstone Press, Saraband, £9.99, Fiction Barbara Henderson Canongate Books,
£8.99, Fiction Hebrides, 1952: During Luath Press, £12.99, £10.99, Current Affairs
A body discovered in top-secret germ Current Affairs One man’s personal
a disused chemical warfare experiments Scottish by Inclination discovery of his
factory prompts a on a floating is a passionate family’s involvement
murder investigation laboratory, a trawler examination of what it in transatlantic
that also illustrates the strays through a cloud means to be Scottish slavery leads to
science behind the of plague bacteria, today, wherever you his call for a wider
industry. and disaster threatens. were born. Relevant reckoning among
Haunting, evocative, for the EU nationals the descendants
based on true events. and their partners, of slave owners.
friends and families.
The Crown Agent The Projectionist A Long and Diverse Voices,
Stephen O’Rourke Kirsti Wishart Tangled Saga Challenging Injustice
Sandstone Press, Rymour Books, Bob Chambers Glasgow Museums,
£8.99, Fiction £11.99, Fiction Acair, £15.95, £5, Current Affairs
A ship adrift, all hands Seacrest is a seaside Current Affairs Stories of those
dead. Doctor Mungo town lost in a Chambers provides an involved in the
Lyon is the wrong man perpetual film festival. independent account peace movement in
to find the truth. That’s But as it prepares to of the famous Pairc Scotland, the fight
exactly why the Crown celebrate a famous community buyout, against apartheid, the
chose him. film star, its quiet which has become a experiences of trade
harmony is shattered. landmark case in the unionists of South
history of land reform Asian heritage – and
in Scotland. how banners help tell
these stories.
Errant Blood Murdo in Marseille Dying to Live Strategy: Get Arts
C. F. Peterson / Murdo ann am Grant and Christian Weikop
Scotland Street Marseille Amanda McIntyre Edinburgh University
Press, £9.99, Fiction Angus Peter Campbell Tippermuir Books, Press, £40, Art
The debut novel from Luath Press, £8.99, £9.99, Current Affairs The beautifully
emerging Scottish Gaelic Fiction In March 2020, illustrated story of the
author C. F. Peterson. The sequel to Grant McIntyre was formation and impact
Crime thriller set in Constabal Murdo, the admitted to hospital of the landmark
the fictional village of first Gaelic crime novel. with COVID-19, his exhibition Strategy:
Duncal, the Highlands. A story that takes the life in the balance. He Get Arts, staged at
reader from Mallaig to suffered multi-organ Edinburgh College of
Marseille. Impressive, failure and spent 50 Art as part of the 1970
humorous, challenging days on life-support. Edinburgh Festival.
and uplifting. This is his story.
20 21Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 People and Places
Imagine A Country Scotland’s History
Ed. Val McDermid Fiona Watson
and Jo Sharp Historic Environment
Canongate Books, Scotland, £9.99, History
£9.99, Current Affairs In this book, writer
Visions of a new future and historian Fiona
from an astonishing Watson looks back
array of Scottish across thousands
voices – edited by of years into the
Val McDermid and Jo lives of kings and
Sharp. This paperback queens, nobles and
edition includes brand churchfolk, peasants
new contributions. and townspeople.
Slaves and Freedom Bound
Highlanders Warren Pleece
David Alston BHP Comics,
Edinburgh University £19.99, YA
Press, £14.99, History From mountainous
Explores the countryside to the
prominent role of inner city, Freedom
Highland Scots in Bound explores
the exploitation of Scotland’s unsettling
enslaved Africans and history of slavery
their descendants in and the injustices
the cotton, sugar and perpetrated through
coffee plantations. the decades.
Writing Black A Silent Voice Speaks
Shaping Scotland’s Stories Scotland
Joseph H. Jackson
Trishna Singh
Fledgling Press,
People and Places
Edinburgh University £12.99, Biography
Press, £75, Literature Trishna Sing OBE
Writing Black is a first generation
Scotland examines Scottish Bhatra
race and racism Sikh. She is director
in devolutionary of Sikh Sanjog, an
Think you know Scotland? Discover the stories from Scottish literature, achievement never
with a focus on the imagined when she
across the country that shone a light on people’s lives critical significance left school age 13.
of blackness. This is her story.
and communities.
22 23Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 People and Places
Redlegs Moon Country Joan Eardley: Joan Eardley:
Chris Dolan Peter Arnott Land & Sea A Sense of Place
Vagabond Voices, Vagabond Voices, Patrick Elliott Patrick Elliott and
£9.95, Fiction £9.95, Fiction National Galleries of Anne Galastro
Profound Moon Country is Scotland, £22.95, Art National Galleries of
historical novel a wild and woolly This book focuses on Scotland, £22.99, Art
set in nineteenth- Scottish Western, Joan Eardley’s work Documents two
century Scotland and a family road movie, in Catterline in north- contrasting strands,
Scottish community in an insane treatise on east Scotland. A vivid urban and rural,
Barbados. It examines nationhood. It’s also portrait is painted of of Joan Eardley’s
a dystopic experiment pretty funny and quite Eardley and the village, work, focusing on
in a slave society unlike anything you’ve showing its influence the Townhead area
using a powerful plot. ever read before. on her as an artist. of Glasgow and the
village of Catterline.
William Burrell The Life and Works of The Curiosity Cabinet The Unreliable
Martin Bellamy, Glasgow Architects Catherine Czerkawska Death of Lady Grange
Isobel MacDonald John Stewart Saraband, Sue Lawrence
Glasgow Museums Whittles Publishing, £8.99, Fiction Saraband, £8.99,
Publishing, £20, £17.99, Biography A modern love story Fiction
Biography The story of two of in the Scottish islands Edinburgh 1732: Lady
New biography of Scotland’s greatest runs parallel with the Grange is kidnapped
Sir William Burrell, architects’ parallel lives darker 18th-century on the orders of her
one of Glasgow’s and work, set against tale of Henrietta powerful husband
greatest benefactors. the background of Dalrymple, kidnapped and exiled to a remote,
Tells the story of the booming Empire’s by the formidable barren island. True
Burrell, his family, and ‘Second City’. Manus McNeill and events retold from the
the amassing of his held against her will. woman’s perspective.
fortune and collection.
A Life of Industry A Scotsman Returns The Green Lady Girl in a Cage
Daniel Gray and Paul A. Lynn Sue Lawrence Jane Yolen and
John R Hume Whittles Publishing, Saraband, £9.99, Robert J Harris
Historic Environment £18.99, Biography Fiction Cranachan, £8.99, YA
Scotland, £20, A modern travelogue 1567, Scotland: no Princess Marjorie
Biography describing and place for a woman. is captured by the
In A Life of Industry, revisiting Telford’s A shocking tale of English and put on
author Daniel Gray work in Scotland intrigue, treachery and permanent display
tells John’s story, during the early murder in the family of in a cage in a town
and the story of 19th century. one of Mary Queen of square.
what has been lost Scots’ loyal courtiers,
– and preserved. based on true events.
24 25Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 People and Places
Freedom Found: George MacLeod A Secret Diary of Blessed Assurance
A Memoir Ron Ferguson the First World War Stewart Ennis
Sara Trevelyan Wild Goose Gill Arbuthnott, Vagabond Voices,
Scotland Street Press, Publications, illust. Darren Gate £9.95, Fiction
£9.99, Biography £14.99, Biography Floris Books, £6.99, 6+ A coming-of-age
What was it like to be The definitive Step into the boots of novel set in a small
married to Scotlands’ biography of one of real-life boy soldier fog-bound fictional
most famous prisoner? the twentieth century’s James Marchbank Scottish village in the
The memoir of Sara most fascinating and experience the late nineteen-sixties.
Trevelyan, doctor and churchmen, an most important and The novel explores
therapist, who fell in outspoken challenger incredible events of family, friendship,
love with Jimmy Boyle, to the status quo and the First World War. faith, loneliness
a convicted murderer. the founder of the and grief.
Iona Community.
The Assynt Crofter Cairngorm John Going to the Berries Canna Schooldays
Judith Ross Napier John Allen Roger Leitch, A. K. Riley
Acair, £15, Biography Sandstone Press, ed. Caroline Milligan Acair, £16.95, History
Judith Napier’s £11.99, Biography NMS Enterprises Author and former
biography explores The Cairngorm – Publishing, headteacher in Canna
the life of a mountains in Scotland £10.99, History Kate Riley reveals a
remarkable man – are a magnet for From interviews world where teachers
stonemason, orator, climbers and walkers. by Roger Leitch: strive to impart
athlete, campaigning John Allen spent more these recollections knowledge despite
writer, but above all than thirty years in the include those of the scarce resources,
a crofter who cared Cairngorm Mountain Scottish Traveller rigorous inspections,
deeply for his Rescue Team saving community, locals and the daily
beloved Assynt. the lost and injured. and Glasgow folk. demands of island life.
Jock’s Jocks The Piper of Tobruk Cappuccino The Immeasurable
Jock Duncan, Alice Soper and Porridge Wilds
ed. Gary West Tippermuir Books, Duncan MacKenzie Alastair Mitchell
NMS Enterprises £8.99, Biography Acair, £15.95, Biography Whittles Publishing,
– Publishing, The Piper of Tobruk This unique story is £18.99, History
£12.99, History is the story of Pipe rooted in WW2 and Provides an
Jock’s Jocks is Major Robert Roy of pays warm tribute to illuminating and
a unique and The Black Watch. It is three characters – the entertaining account of
illuminating collection an inspiring story of a author’s father from how the Far North was
of first-hand witness distinguished soldier Harris, his stepfather revealed through early
testimony to the whose exploits are from Skye and his travellers, combining
horror, and humour, genuinely remarkable. father-in-law from history and aspects of
of the Great War. Tuscany. science to create an
absorbing read.
26 27Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 People and Places
Writing on the Road Stranraer and Homelands Everything Passes,
Sue Reid Sexton District Lives Chitra Ramaswamy Everything Remains
Waverley Books, Ed. Caroline Milligan Canongate Books, Chris Dolan
£8.99, Biography NMS Enterprises £16.99, Biography Saraband,
Sue Reid Sexton on her – Publishing, A book about history, £9.99, Travel
solo campervan trips to £12.99, History friendship, family A lifelong journey from
the West Highlands of Using oral recorded and what it means Glasgow to Valencia
Scotland, writes about interviews, the themes to belong, from takes us freewheelin’
nature, mindfulness, include agriculture the award-winning through Scotland and
solo travel, writing and farming, rural and journalist and author Spain. This memoir
and recovery urban living conditions, of Expecting. celebrates song,
from relationship travel and tansport, stories, friendships
breakdown. and the Princess and memory.
Victoria disaster.
The Grocer’s Boy The Fearn Bobby Coming Into View Painting for My Life
Robert Murray Ian McNeish Isobel McDonald, Glasgow Museums
Extremis, £9.99, Extremis, £12.99, Alison Brown Publishing, £14.99, Art
Biography Biography Glasgow Museums Marianne’s artistic
The reflections of a The life of a Scottish Publishing, £12.99, Art abilities saved her life
grocer’s delivery boy in police officer as he A scientist and then a during imprisonment
1950s Tayside, from his rose through the ranks teacher, Eric Watt was in Theresienstadt
early days delivering during a thirty year a passionate amateur ghetto, Auschwitz,
orders on a rickety career in the force. photographer who Neuengamme and
bicycle through to his While discussing his spent his free time on Bergen-Belsen. This
appointment as the career, he considers a the streets of Glasgow, book catalogues all
youngest manager of a wide variety of public documenting the city of Marianne’s work.
branch in the company. service topics. and its people.
Sweet FA Someone Else’s Story Victoria Crowe Tribes of Edinburgh
Tim Barrow, Michael Robson Duncan MacMillan, and Leith
Paul Beeson and Acair, £15.95, History Julie Lawson and Alan McCredie
Bruce Strachan Historian Michael Victoria Crowe and Stephen Millar
Tippermuir Books, Robson shares with National Galleries of Luath Press,
£8.99, Drama the reader ‘a tiny Scotland, £17.99, Art £14.99, History
Tells the story of fraction of the mass of This book beautifully Edinburgh and
one women’s factory incidental, intriguing illustrates 80 artworks Leith’s unique
football team from interest offered by the by Victoria Crowe, and varied cultures
Fountainbridge, people, the landscape including portraits are vividly shown
fighting for their right and the seas of the of composer Ronald through portraits
to play the game. Outer Hebrides’. Stevenson and poet and commentary.
Kathleen Raine.
28 29Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 People and Places
Brickwork Scheming
Top Ten: No Mean City Kirstin Innes and
David Bratchpiece
Seán Damer
Edinburgh University
Salamander Street, Press, £19.99
Our Favourite Glasgow Stories £12.99, History A history of six Glasgow
Nightclub, theatre housing schemes
and one of the most when a post-WW1
important venues in programme of council
Europe, Brickwork house construction to
writes the biography replace the city’s slums
of a space that was wound up reproducing
always more than its a Victorian class
bricks and mortar. structure.
Constitution Street 66. The house that
Laidlaw Buddha Da How Late it Was Complete Swing Hammer Jemma Neville Viewed the World
William Anne Donovan How Late Novellas Swing 404 Ink, £9.99, John D. O. Fulton
McIllvanney A wonderful James Kelman Agnes Owens Jeff Torrington Current Affairs Scotland Street
The masterpiece celebration of Scotland’s first Novellas of Funny, energetic, Constitution Street, like Press, £9.99, History
that launched the everyday Booker-prize Glasgow life ambitious the world at large, is in The extraordinary
Tartan Noir, from from a writer winning novel told with gallows portrayal of a moment of flux. Part people associated
the godfather who knows fizzing with dark, humour and 1960s Glasgow memoir, part social with the house at 66
of Scottish her city and Glaswegian a touch of that will leave history and a call to Queen street through
crime fiction. its people. humour. the surreal . you breathless. action, Constitution its 210 year history are
Street is an antidote brought to light.
to an age of personal
and political anxiety.
Royal Conservatoire Scotland the Dreich
of Scotland Alan McCredie
Stuart A Harris-Logan Luath Press,
Luath Press, £7.99, Travel
£20, Music This book is a
The Cutting Shuggie Bain Red Dust Road Eleanor Oliphant Open the Door Part history, celebration of all that
Room Douglas Stuart Jackie Kay is Completely Catherine part celebratory is dreich. A sunny
Louise Welsh This Booker-prize A moving Fine Carswell publication, Royal day has no more
A stylish, gothic winning novel is memoir of Kay’s Gail Honeyman Powerful Conservatoire of right to exist than
crime novel a heartbreaking childhood with A love letter to evocation of one Scotland showcases a dreich one. Here,
that stars Rilke, and tender her adoptive the kindness woman’s interior the Conservatoire’s 175 then, are fifty dreich
a dissolute art portrayal of a family and her and warmth of life as well as the year history in what will images of Scotland,
auctioneer. post-industrial search for her the people of life and industry become a wonderful accompanied by fifty
Glasgow. birth parents. Glasgow. of Glasgow. collector’s piece. dreich captions.
30 31Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 People and Places
Scotland the Best: Scotland from the Sky The Hebridean Baker Peter Bakes
The Islands James Crawford Coinneach MacLeod Peter Sawkins
Peter Irvine Historic Environment Black and White, Black and White,
HarperCollins, Scotland, £16.99, £20, Food & Drink £20, Food & Drink
£14.99, Travel History Coinneach Macleods’s The youngest ever
Pete Irvine brings Accompanying the unique style and winner of the Great
together a selection of BBC series Scotland wholesome and British Bake Off in
islands to visit along from the Sky, this delicious Scottish 2020, Sawkins now
with fully updated lavishly illustrated bakes have won him shares the recipes
recommendations book draws on the fans around the globe. behind his teatime
on where to eat, collection of aerial Now he shares both treats, showstopper
sleep and visit. photography held in his fabulous recipes cakes, and yummy
the archives of Historic and fascinating stories. puddings.
Environment Scotland.
Who Built Scotland An Amazing The Seafood Shack Spirit & Spice
Historic Environment Illustrated Atlas Kirsty Scobie and Ghillie Basan
Scotland, £9.99, of Scotland Fenella Renwick Kitchen Press,
History David MacPhail Kitchen Press, £25, Food & Drink
Writers Kathleen Floris Books, £12.99, 6+ £20, Food & Drink Spirit & Spice is
Jamie, Alexander From mythical The award-winning a cookbook and
McCall Smith, Alistair monsters to famous first book from a celebration of
Moffat, James landmarks, discover Ullapool’s Seafood contemporary living
Robertson and James something you didn’t Shack, celebrating the and eating in the
Crawford pick twenty- know about Scotland incredible produce Scottish Highlands,
five buildings to tell in this brilliant atlas caught in the icy using Scotland’s
the story of the nation. packed with amazing waters of the Minch. fabulous produce,
illustrations. wild food and whisky.
Nation to Nation Bloody Scotland Bad Girl Bakery
Stephen Gethins Various Jeni Iannetta
Luath Press, £12.99, Historic Environment Kitchen Press, £20, Food & Drink
Current Affairs Scotland, £8.99, Fiction The first book from Scotland’s celebrated and
In a new revised In Bloody Scotland, award-winning Bad Girl Bakery in the Black Isle
edition, former MP twelve of Scotland’s village, Muir of Ord.
Stephen Gethins best crime writers Because Bad Girls make great cake…
explores what use the sinister side
Scotland’s Foreign of the country’s built Flip the page to find a recipe from Bad Girl
Policy footprint is heritage in stories Bakery!
and how it can be that are by turns
utilised by Scotland gripping, chilling
and the UK. and redemptive.
32 33Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 People and Places
Caramelised White Chocolate & Pecan Shortbread
MAKES 8 GENEROUS BISCUITS centimetre thick – don’t be tempted to roll the
biscuits thinner or the nuts are likely to poke
2 baking sheets, lined out of the dough and burn as they bake. Keep
moving the dough a little as you roll it, rotating
9 cm scone or cookie cutter it so it doesn’t stick.
For the shortbread: Swirl your cutter in the flour on your work
surface then cut out eight rounds, re-rolling the
250 g plain flour (plus more for dusting) dough a couple of times. Because this recipe
(very satisfyingly!) uses all the dough with no
75 g cornflour leftovers, we make the last biscuit by putting the
last of the dough inside the cutter and flattening
115 g soft dark brown sugar it out with our fingers.If you have finger marks on
the biscuit, just turn it over so the uneven side is
250 g unsalted butter, chopped into small cubes on the baking sheet.
100 g pecans, roasted and chopped Pop the cut-out biscuits on the lined baking
sheets with a little space between them. Pop
100 g Caramelised White Chocolate, chopped the baking sheets in the fridge to chill for 20
into chunks minutes or in the freezer for ten minutes.
To finish: Bake the chilled biscuits for 25 to 30 minutes.
Really the only way to tell these are done is
200 g Caramelised White Chocolate, melted by colour, though do bear in mind that they
use dark brown sugar so they bake to a darker
100 g pecans, roasted and chopped colour than traditional shortbread. When they
are ready, they will be deep golden brown, a bit
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). like the colour of a digestive biscuit. The colour
may be a bit deeper round the edges and the
Weigh the plain flour, cornflour and sugar into middles will be almost firm. They will harden
your bowl and give it a little mix to combine. more as they cool.
Add the butter and, picking up little handfuls of
the mix, rub the butter in between your thumb Leave the biscuits to cool completely on the
and fingers (as though you’re making crumble) trays while you melt the remaining caramelised
until it looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the pecans white chocolate, either in bursts in a microwave
and the Caramelised White Chocolate chunks on low or in a small, deep heatproof bowl over
until the dough starts to come together and it some just-simmering water.
looks more like rubble. If you’re using a mixer,
do the same steps on a low speed. When the biscuits are cool, dip half of each one
in the melted chocolate, put back on the baking
Bring the dough together into a ball with your sheet and scatter over the pecans before the
hands and put it on a lightly floured surface. chocolate sets.
Flatten it into a fat disc and sprinkle a tiny bit Either pop them in the fridge or leave in a cool
of flour over the top, then roll it out to about a place for a little while until the chocolate hardens.
34 35Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 People and Places
The Scottish Whisky in Your Pocket For the Safety of All St Peter’s, Cardross
Quiz Book Neil Wilson Donald S Murray Diane M Watters
Waverley Books team Waverley Books, Historic Environment Historic Environment
Waverley Books, £9.99, Food & Drink Scotland, £25, History Scotland, £30, History
£7.99, Games Tenth edition. Lists Donald S Murray In this landmark book,
Third edition. every main bottling explores Scotland’s Diane Watters looks at
Essential book for from Scotland’s malt lighthouses through the history of St Peter’s
long journeys, pub distilleries with new history, storytelling Seminary, Cardross.
quiz nights, trivia and artisanal distilleries. and the voices of the She traces the story of
clever stuff. Based on Wallace lightkeepers. an architectural failure
Milroy’s book Malt which morphed into a
Whisky Alamanac. tragic modernist myth.
A Sociolinguistic A Handbook of Flashes of Memory The Small Isles
History of Scotland Scotland’s Coasts Mary Gillanders John Hunter
Robert McCall Millar Fi Martynoga Acair, £12.95, History Historic Environment
Edinburgh University Saraband, Mary Gillanders grew Scotland, £25, History
Press, £19.99, History £12.99, Travel up in and around the This comprehensive
Examines language An inspirational lighthouses of the guide to the Small
usage in Scotland resource for those Clyde in the mid- Isles – illustrated
since the earliest times, who want to discover twentieth century, with a wealth of
including Gaelic, Scots, more about the in a world governed photographs, maps
Pictish, British, Norn, thousands of miles of by devotion to duty. and drawings – takes
Immigrant languages Scotland’s spectacular readers on a tour of
and Scottish Standard coastline: its geology, both place and time.
English. wildlife and history.
Tartan Commonplace Large Notebooks The Changing The Darkest Dawn
Waverley Books, £15, Stationery Outer Hebrides Malcolm Macdonald,
British cloth 21 x 13 cm Frank Rennie Donald John MacLeod
Acair, £16.95, History Acair, £25, History
192 pp HB FSC paper, recycled materials.
Winner of the The definitive
Waverley Books offer an array of beautiful Highland Book testament to 280
tartan notebooks that not only provide space Prize 2020, this is sailors on HMY
for your own jottings, but also informs about the a fascinating and Iolaire. This research
clan and tartan system with local histories and intimate account of has taken decades
maps. Here we present the Blue Loch the inter-relationship and draws on an
and Thistle tartans. between one small exceptional range
island village in the of sources.
Hebrides and the
wider world.
36 37Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 People and Places
Beehive Dwellings Iona of My Heart The Boy with Finding True North
of the Hebrides Neil Paynter the Bronze Axe Linda Gask
Marc Calhoun Wild Goose Kathleen Fidler Sandstone Press,
Acair, £20, History Publications, Floris Books, £7.99, 8+ £8.99, Biography
Documents the £10.99, Wellbeing Set in the Stone Beneath the wide
cells, their settings, Daily readings Age village of Skara skies of Orkney Linda
and twenty years of celebrating the Brae on Orkney. A Gask recalls both her
difficult journeys to ‘Iona effect’ – about strange boy arrives career as a consultant
reach them. With their people from different in the village with a psychiatrist and her
splendid corbelled countries and sharp axe of a type lifelong struggle
domes, beehive backgrounds coming never seen before. with her own
cell dwellings are together. Stories of Conflict soon arises, mental health.
remarkable remnants exchange, connection, and a deadly storm
of a past way of life. and transformation. threatens the village.
History with Eadar Dà Shaoghal The Desperate Fir for Luck
Heart and Soul Donald MacLeod Journey Barbara Henderson
CEN Editorial Team Acair, £15.95, Kathleen Fidler Cranachan, £6.99, 8+
Acair, £25, History Biography Floris Books, £6.99, 8+ The heart-wrenching
Ness Historical Based on the BBC Ten-year-old twins tale of a girl’s courage
Society has created radio series ‘Between Kirsty and David to save her village
a rich archive of Two Worlds’, Professor Murray are forced to from the Highland
place-names, Donald MacLeod’s leave their croft in the Clearances.
with information stories vividly portray north of Scotland. How
provided by over fifty the sights and sounds will they manage in
contributors between of his boyhood in Glasgow, and will they
1966 and 2018. Bernera, Lewis. survive a dangerous
Atlantic crossing?
The Chessmen Thief The Hill of The Dunbars Overlander
Barbara Henderson the Red Fox of Ackergill Alan Brown
Cranachan, £7.99, 8+ Allan Campbell and Hempriggs Saraband,
Twelve-year-old Kylan McLean James Miller £9.99, Travel
is a Viking slave. When Floris Books, Whittles Publishing, An epic coast-to-
he gets the chance to £7.99, 11+ £18.99, History coast cycle journey
return to the Hebrides, It is the Cold War A detailed picture of through the wild
the Lewis Chessmen and Soviet spies social and economic and lonely interior of
he helped carve are feared. Alasdair life in Caithness the Highlands, with
become his only stumbles into a web spanning some 300 a personal take on
hope of escape of espionage on the years. A fascinating Scotland’s landscape
and survival. Isle of Skye. insight into life in and history.
northern Scotland.
38 39Shaping Scotland’s Stories / Spring/Summer 2022 People and Places
Big Bill the Beltie Bull The Secret The Munros: The Munros in Winter
Shalla Gray History of Here A History Martin Moran
Curly Tale Books, Alistair Moffat Andrew Dempster Sandstone Press,
£5, 3+ Canongate Books, Luath Press, £11.99, Outdoors
Poor Big Bill! All he £9.99, History £11.99, Outdoors Martin Moran’s
wants to do is sleep A personal The Munros: A classic account of
in the sun and eat investigation into the History explores the first traverse
yummy grass, but history that surrounds the compulsions of the Munros in a
the farmer has other the author in his and philosophies single winter journey,
ideas…. A lovely tale Borders home, from underpinning the newly presented
set in the beautiful the historian and Munro phenomenon. for a contemporary
countryside of award-winning author readership.
Galloway. of The Hidden Ways.
Whithorn The Siege of Exploring the NC500 Exploring the
Ed. Julia Muir Watt Caerlaverock David M. Addison SWC300
NMS Enterprises Barbara Henderson Extremis, David M. Addison
– Publishing, Cranachan, £6.99, 8+ £12.99, Travel Extremis,
£14.99, History Ada’s castle home is A lively road trip £12.99, Travel
Interviews with under attack. Rocks around Scotland’s A guide to the South-
29 individuals from and flaming arrows North Coast 500 West Coastal 300
Whithorn, Dumfries rain from the sky as Route, exploring the route, which explores
and Galloway, and Ada has a dangerous history and cultural towns in and around
their memories of choice to make. Who heritage of the area the Dumfries and
the 1920s to 1960s. will survive the siege with plenty of exciting Galloway area as the
of Caerlaverock? diversions and author considers its
anecdotes. fascinating history.
Corrour Bothy The Black Cuillin Exploring the The Heart 200 Book
Ralph Storer Calum Smith Snow Roads Thomas A. Christie
Luath Press, Rymour Books, David M. Addison and Julie Christie
£10.99, Outdoors £22, Outdoors Extremis, Extremis,
Corrour Bothy is the An exhilarating £10.99, Travel £12.99, Travel
story of the oldest and account of A guide to Scotland’s A guide to the
most famous bothy in mountaineering in 90-mile Snow Roads very best cultural,
the world, celebrating the Isle of Skye. Not Scenic Route, starting heritage and leisure
a century of use in simply a climbing at Blairgowrie and experiences you can
2020. It blends visitors’ compendium but a proceeding through look forward to when
book entries with social history of the Royal Deeside and the visiting Scotland’s
historical accounts. island, its mountains Cairngorms to end at Heart 200 route.
and its people. Grantown-on-Spey.
40 41You can also read
