News of the Dead

Description

A sweeping novel from critically-acclaimed author James Robertson, displaying centuries of change in the atmospheric Scottish highlands Hidden in the breath-taking mountains of wild Scotland, Glen Conach is the home of secrets and stories, of fables and folklore. Over hundreds of years, three lives are woven together. In ancient Britain, the hermit Saint Conach performs impossible miracles, which survive as legend in 'The Book of Glen Conach'. Generations later in the nineteenth century, the book is rediscovered by charlatan Charles Gibb, who hustles his way into the big house at the heart of the village. In the present-day, young Lachie whispers to Maja of ghosts he has seen in the glen. Reflecting back on her long life, Maja believes him, as she has some ghosts of her own. News of the Dead is a captivating examination of the distance between the stories we tell of ourselves and the way in which we are remembered.

James Robertson is the author of The Fanatic, Joseph Knight, The Testament of Gideon Mack, And the Land Lay Still, The Professor of Truth and To Be Continued. Joseph Knight won the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year, The Testament of Gideon Mack was longlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize, and And the Land Lay Still won the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year. Robertson is also the author of four short story collections, most recently 365- Stories, five poetry collections and numerous children's books written in English and Scots. He runs the independent publishing house Kettillonia, and he is co-founder and general editor of the Scots language imprint Itchy Coo, which produces books in Scots for children and young adults.

A haunted, haunting, and deeply humane book -- Robert Crawford It's like some beautifully ornate kist or jewel-box that for most of the encounter you admire for its own sake, only to find a key, near the end, that opens onto even more treasure -- Gavin Francis It is another wonderful piece of storytelling from James Robertson, offering a penetrating exploration of the complexities of collective memory and the tenacity of tradition, all played out through a thousand years of life in a single glen. It has all the makings of a timeless classic in its own right. -- Professor Gary West James Robertson is an extremely fine novelist . . . This is a superb book. . . It is not a book anyone will forget quickly. * Scotland on Sunday * One of Robertson's skills as a novelist is to make both events real and imagined feel equally convincing. * Prospect * Subtly explores the relationship between place and identity * The Sunday Times *