The Call of the Cormorant

Description

"Full of memorable images and singing lines of prose."on Donald S. Murray's previous work From the author of the multi award-winning Scottish bestsellerAs the Women Lay Dreaming comes the remarkable "unreliable biography" of serial swindler Karl Einarsson. As a child of the late nineteenth century in the North Atlantic's windswept, fog-bound Faroe Islands, Karl Einarsson grows up believing he is superior to his peers, destined for a life of art and adventure. As soon as he is old enough, he sets out for Denmark and begins his own reinvention. Once untethered from his past, Einarsson's lies begin to spiral. He begins a life of serial scamming, swindling everyone from fishermen to aristocrats. He has set his sights on Atlantis, but when his schemes find him in 1930s Berlin, for the first time Einarsson is forced to reckon with something bigger than himself. As the Nazis rise to power around him, his indifference becomes unwitting complicity, and even betrayal. Based on the true story of Karl Einarsson's life, this is an outlandish tale of island claustrophobia, of those who leave and those who stay behind, and the many dangers of delusions, deceit, and false identities.

A son of the Hebrides, Donald S Murray is a writer and poet whose work has been awarded The Society of Authors' Paul Torday Memorial Prize, and has been shortlisted for both the Saltire Literary Awards and the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award. His critically acclaimed books bring to life the culture and nature of the Scottish islands, and he appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland.

'One of the most interesting and enjoyable [authors] writing in Scotland today ... A fine story, rich in irony, a story of folly and a fool who nevertheless invites one's sympathy ...[Murray's] most ambitious novel to date.' -- Allan Massie * Scotsman * 'From the first line I know I'm in the hands of a bard and consummate storyteller. The writing is lyrical and hugely descriptive ... The history is rich and fascinating.' * Historical Novels Review *