The Cone-gatherers: A Haunting Story of Violence and Love

Description

Calum and Neil are the cone-gatherers - two brothers at work in the forest of a large Scottish estate. But the harmony of their life together is shadowed by the dark obsessive hatred of Duror, the gamekeeper. Set during the Second World War, Robin Jenkins' greatest novel is an immensely powerful examination of good and evil, and mankind's propensity for both. Removed from the destruction and bloodshed of the war, the brothers' oblivious happiness becomes increasingly fragile as darker forces close in around them. With its themes of class-conflict, war, evil and envy, "The Cone-Gatherers" is a towering work of fiction that remains as relevant today as when it was first published. Suspenseful, dark and unforgettable, it is one of the masterpieces of modern Scottish literature.

Robin Jenkins, author of a number of landmark novels including The Changeling, Happy for the Child, The Thistle and the Grail and Guests of War, is recognised as one of Scotland's greatest writers. The themes of good and evil, of innocence lost, of fraudulence, cruelty and redemption shine through his work. His novels, shot through with ambiguity, are rarely about what they seem. He published his first book, So Gaily Sings the Lark, at the age of thirty-eight, and by the time of his death in 2005, over thirty of his novels were in print.

"Jenkins is quite simply a major contemporary writer."The Herald"Treat yourself this year to some Robin Jenkins ... he is simply wonderful." Andrew Marr"Like all the great masters, his skill is lightly worn, his sentences singing with what he does not say ... he is the great old man of Scottish letters." The Times