Book 22 - Isles at the Edge of the Sea

Isles at the Edge of the Sea by Jonny Muir - first published in 2011

The author visited 19 islands off the west coast of Scotland in one journey starting with Arran and ending with St Kilda.  On the way he took part in mountain running races on Arran, Jura, Harris and from Kintail to Beauly.  He camped most nights, the weather was often cold, wet and windy and the midges were all too often present in large numbers. There is a separate chapter for each island and in places it comes across as an endurance test, rather than a pleasure but the account is generally an enjoyable mixture of his experiences and the people he met mixed with a little history.

I have visited all the islands except St Kilda, a place which the author found profoundly moving.  On leaving St Kilda he says "I felt a connection - a brief yet deep physical link - sever but I knew the emotional bond, the stronger connection, would be lifelong." and  "I feared life anywhere might be mundane after St Kilda."

Talking about his visit to Harris on Rum Jonny Muir describes extremely well those rare and all too brief moments of timeless perfection that we occasionally and always unexpectedly stumble upon:

"Moments of sublime flawlessness are rare; such instances depend on the harmonious collision of mood, place and time.  Today, now, somehow, the pieces fitted together: the command of the mountains, the roll of the sea, the shimmering brilliance of the sky, the adrenaline of exertion, the haunting emptiness of the land, the spectacle of Sir George's mausoleum, the calmness and liberation of thought.  Nothing was out of place. "

The book was worth reading just for this paragraph.   8/10

Islands covered - Arran, Holy Island, Bute, Colonsay, Oronsay, Islay, Jura, Mull, Coll, Tiree, Eigg, Rum, Canna, Skye, Barra, Berneray,  Lewis, Harris, St Kilda

 Bullough Mausoleum at Harris on the west coast of Rum

Book 21 - To the Edge of the Sea

To the Edge of the Sea by Christina Hall - first published in 1999

Christina Hall was born into a crofting family on the Outer Hebridean island of South Uist in 1938.  This is an autobiographical account of her childhood.  At the age of 41/2 she was sent to live with 2 unmarried aunts, one of whom was the headmistress of a school on the island of Benbecula.  She only returned home for school holidays.  2 years later she moved with them to the island of Barra and she lived there until she was 10 when she returned to her family on South Uist.  The account of her family life, schooldays, crofting and a traditional 3 day hebridean wedding is similar in many ways to the one related by Finlay J Macdonald on the nearby island of Harris a  decade earlier in his autobiography Crowdie and Cream.  It is a very accessible and informative account of everyday life in the Outer Hebrides in the middle of the 20th century.

The second part of Christina Hall's autobiography is Twice around the Bay, which was first published in 2001.  The 2 parts have been published together as one book called Tales from an Island.    7/10

Islands covered - South Uist, Barra, Benbecula and Flodda

 Kisimul Castle, Castlebay, Barra

 Barra Airport Runway - yes the planes take off and land on the beach!

Traigh Mor, Eoligarry

 Near Howmore, west coast of South Uist

 South Uist

 Benbecula - causeway to South Uist - the completion of this causeway in 1942 is mentioned in this book.

 Eoligarry, Barra

Book 20 - The Summer of the Bear

The Summer of the Bear by Bella Pollen - first published 2010

It is 1979 and the Cold War is still in progress in Europe.  Nicky Fleming, a British diplomat based in Bonn, West Germany, falls from the roof of the British Embassy and dies leaving behind his wife Letty and their 3 children - Georgie, Alba and Jamie.  Devastated by Nicky's death Letty and the children retreat to North Uist where she owns a house.  It is not clear whether Nicky's death was suicide, an accident or murder but Letty is determined to uncover the truth.  There is also the possibility that Nicky was a spy and betrayed his country.  Letty is so grief stricken that she doesn't notice that Alba has become consumed with anger and hatred for her siblings, especially Jamie, that Georgie has started a romance with the mobile shop owner's son or that Jamie doesn't understand that is father is dead.   Meanwhile a bear has escaped in the vicinity of the cottage and Jamie tries to track him down.

I read the whole book in a day, which is very unusual for me and a measure of how good I thought the book was that I didn't want to put it down.  The characters are flawed and believable.  The mystery of Nicky's death is solved at the end and Alba is reconciled.  However I found the character and actions of the bear less believable.  Despite the title of the book this isn't really about the bear but is about what happens when people lose the ability to communicate.

The chapters in Summer of the Bear are told from the perspective of different members of the family and the bear.  Each of them has their own appropriate symbol, which is shown at the beginning of each chapter e.g Alba = basking shark, Jamie = binoculars.

The bear of the story is based on a real life grizzly bear called Hercules, who escaped  from his owner on the island of Benbecula in 1980 while he was filming a TV advertisement for Kleenex.  He evaded detection for 24 days before he was recaptured.  He lived with his owners as one of the family in Perthshire until he died in 2000.

Islands covered - North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist.

 Our Lady of the Isles, South Uist

 - this statue is mentioned in the book

 Beach near Howmore, South Uist

 - all the members of the family spend time on similar beaches

Book 19 - Emotional Geology

Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard - first published in 2005

Textile artist Rose Leonard retreats to a cottage on the coast of North Uist to recover from the hurt she felt at the end of a long term relationship with climber Gavin.  Rose soon meets and is attracted to a local teacher called Calum, who turns out to have a past that he cannot forget either.  Rose and Calum eventually realise that they can help each other along their roads to recovery.  I thought there was going to be a lot of tedious navel gazing and wallowing in self-pity and there is some of this.  However the story is more complex and also includes the themes of bipolar disorder, alcoholism, guilt and betrayal.

Islands covered - North Uist and Benbecula

 Pobull Fhinn Stone Circle, North Uist - 

in the book Rose and her daughter Megan visit this place

 Mackerel sculpture outside the Arts Centre at Lochmaddy -

the sculpture doesn't feature in the story but the Arts Centre does.

 Balranald, RSPB Reserve, North Uist
Rose and Megan pay this place a visit.

 Sunset near Lochmaddy, North Uist

Locheport, North Uist

Book 18 - Dearest Dacha

Dearest Dacha by Norman Maclean - first published as Dacha Mo Ghaoil in 2005

This book is only 2/3rds the size of a usual paperback and is only 102 pages long.  As a favour to their friend Duncan, 2 dodgy dealers Davy and Calum agree to travel from the Outer Hebrides to Glasgow to marry Tanya and Tamara, 2 Russian weightlifters so that they can get UK passports.  Tanya and Tamara come to North Uist to work in a sex club that Duncan has set up on a croft that he has gained possession of illegally from an elderly women, who has dementia and lives in a care home.  Meanwhile a local lawyer called Margaret MacCorquodale is determined to cleanse the island of immoral goings on before the Queen comes on a visit and to get the croft returned to its rightful owner.  A very bizarre tale.  5/10

Islands covered - North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist

North Uist

 Loch Sgioport, South Uist

South Uist - Howmore Hostel

Book 17 - The Chessmen

The Chessmen by Peter May - first published in 2013

This is the 3rd book in the Lewis Trilogy.  Ex-detective Fin Macleod has a new job as head of security on a large sporting estate in the west of Lewis, which has been having problems with poachers.  He is reunited with an old school friend Whistler Macaskill, who is one of the estate's tenants.  One night they are out together when they witness a rare bog burst and all the water in a small loch suddenly drains away to reveal a light aircraft with the body of a man inside it.  The plane belonged to their mutual friend musician Roddy Mackenzie, who disappeared 17 years earlier.  Whistler reacts to the find in a very odd way and on closer examination it turns out that the man was not killed in the plane crash but was murdered.

While it isn't necessary to have read the 2 previous novels in the series to understand the main plot of this book, some of the many subplots make more sense if you have read the other books.  In common with the other 2 books, this one has an exciting conclusion and blends real locations and historic events (e.g. the sinking of the Iolaire in 1919 off Stornoway) with fiction very well.  The book has maps of the islands making up the Outer Hebrides showing the location of events in all 3 books inside the front and back covers of the book.  Such maps always warrant and extra mark in my opinion!  8/10

Islands covered - Lewis and North Uist

 The Bridge to Nowhere, North Tolsta, Lewis

This bridge features in The Chessmen as the scene of an accident following a motorbike time trial between Roddy and fellow band member Strings to decide the new name for their band.  Years later Fin remembers something about that day, which is crucial to him solving the mystery.