The Letters of Ivor Punch

Description

Winner of the Edinburgh International Book Festival's First Book Award. 'A truly original and enthralling novel. Ivor Punch is a magnificent creation and his story is mischievous, sad, funny and truthful' - Stephen Kelman, BOOKER-SHORTLISTED author of PIGEON ENGLISH All islands have their secrets. This one has more than most. When Fingal McMillan rows out into the Atlantic never to return, his grandson Alexander is left with questions. What really happened to Alexander's mother? Was his grandfather trying to reach The Looming, a rock of local myth? And why have mysterious words appeared on the cliff by the bay? Alexander is not the only local boy whose origins are clouded by mystery - a mystery which stretches back to Victorian times, when a pioneering travel writer alighted on distant Scottish shores. But will the island give up its secrets? Or will Ivor Punch - the man who links the past to the present - take them to the grave?

Colin MacIntyre is an award-winning musician who has written and produced six albums to date, having achieved two Top 20 albums under the name Mull Historical Society. He has been voted Scotland's Top Creative Talent and has toured worldwide, including with The Strokes, Elbow and REM, and has played all the major festivals. He has performed live on Radio 4, 6Music, Radio 1, Radio 2, LATER WITH JOOLS HOLLAND and THE JONATHAN ROSS SHOW, among many others. He is the co-author of a Radio 4 Afternoon Play, and has collaborated with Tony Benn and Irvine Welsh. His newest musical project is INK, an enigmatic electro-pop collaboration, of which the GUARDIAN has said, 'Perfect without being too box-ticking. INK is going to be massive.' Born into a family of writers and storytellers, Colin grew up on the isle of Mull in the Hebrides but now lives in London.

The poetic prose he uses for sea and the changing island life... is unforgettable * YORKSHIRE GAZETTE & HERALD * This is a novel packed with funny characters. * iWEEKEND * I raced through this clever, poignant, beautiful book in one sitting. It's peopled by a cast of brilliantly off-the-wall characters, and full of keen-eyed observations about life on a remote Scottish island - and, by extension, everywhere. A must-read. -- Laura Barnett, author of THE VERSIONS OF US The Punch family history is both fascinating and sad. The book is interesting, funny, has a famous cameo and keeps you reading, and it's only when you reach the end of the final chapter that the Punch family history falls into place... The characters are original, well-written, and it's one of those books you want to re-read after you've finished it -- Judith Griffin * New Books * We meet a pioneering female writer, two fatherless boys, a man who fell from the sky and, of course, the prolific letter writer Ivor Punch * THE BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH * He writes with a clarity of style * THE SCOTSMAN * As a songwriter, Colin MacIntyre seems always to have been a natural storyteller. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before he turned his abilities to the longer form of the novel. It is fitting that the man best known as Mull Historical Society has crafted a story to which he has put his own name, yet it is a novel which owes so much to his roots on the island of Mull. Such powerful storytelling resonated strongly with readers at the Book Festival, making Colin a runaway winner in voting for the First Book Award -- Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival MacIntyre is a storyteller with a unique imagination and has created a genuinely heartfelt novel with some standout elements of dark comedy * THE LIST * Witty, shocking, curious and wry, it is a multi-faceted novel that delights at every turn... A thing of genius and wonder. * WE LOVE THIS BOOK * Beguiling tales built on secrets and sadness, each of them with a keen sense of place * INDEPENDENT * A truly original and enthralling novel. Ivor Punch is a magnificent creation and his story is mischievous, sad, funny and truthful -- Stephen Kelman, BOOKER-SHORTLISTED author of PIGEON ENGLISH