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Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.​  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

Amid the splendid scenery of Orkney and the Monros

10/4/2017

3 Comments

 
Let’s take a look at a couple of debut novels with some fine evocations of the natural world and a strong sense of place published by small independent presses based in Scotland.

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The truth sweeps around and under me like starlings leaving a wire.

If you visit Orkney, you’re likely to come away with at least one new word in your vocabulary. Peedie, Orcadian for wee, which is Scottish for little, crops up frequently in Gabrielle Barnby’s debut novel set amidst the spectacular scenery of those islands off the north coast of Scotland. But the story of secrets and betrayal among three women who have grown up together, although squeezed into a little over 200 pages, is not peedie at all.

It begins in the mediaeval splendour of St Magnus Cathedral, at the funeral of Tessa’s husband, Robbie. The narrator, Christine, supported by her chatterbox sister, Lindsay, feels unable to show the full extent of her grief. It’s for Lindsay’s sake that Christine has returned from the South to take up a job at St Olaf’s school. Tessa, and her young daughter, Jenna, unable or unwilling to stay on in the flat above the shop run by her in-laws, nor to return to the farm on which she grew up, moves into Christine’s cramped cottage, and goes back to her hairdressing job.

Lindsay, it turns out, lives with
bipolar disorder and, with her chaotic exuberance vividly portrayed through pressure of speech, I found her the most interesting character. But, although she shapes the plot, The Oystercatcher Girl is a mystery based on the love triangle between Robbie, Tessa and Christine.

I loved the descriptions of landscape and the evocation of smalltown life with the entangled bonds of love and friendship and the desire for privacy in a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business, although there are still shameful secrets that go unmentioned. There are hints of parallels between Christine’s mother’s work as an archaeologist researching the islands’ Neolithic ruins and the needs of the younger generation to excavate the past. Along with the language, the novel makes use of the setting’s traditions (although personally I could have done without the reminder of
the Blackenings, a ghastly pre-wedding ritual in which both bride and groom are, separately, stripped and doused in black treacle and paraded through town).

Gabrielle Barnby’s debut novel is published by Thunderpoint, to whom thanks for my review copy.


And though he knew the shape of Scotland from tea towels and weather maps and shortbread tins and the STV logo, as he stood there high on the hillside looking down at the islands of Loch Lomond shimmering in the sun, he had this sense of living on the west side of an island in the ocean on a blue planet in space.

Any serious hill walker from Britain or beyond will know of the
Monros, the 282 Scottish mountains above 3000 feet. In the forty odd years between my first and last, I’ve “bagged” only about a dozen of them; in the five years he’s been diagnosed with HIV Mickey Bell has conquered all but five. Great for his physical and mental health but, since a canny support worker helped him claim the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance intended “for people unable, or virtually unable, to walk more than fifty metres without severe discomfort or the risk of endangering their life” (p183), not something to boast about to an unstable new lover. When Mickey seeks to sever ties with young Jonnie, the latter reports him to the Department of Social Security. With the Scottish independence referendum on the horizon, and Whitehall shamefaced by people in wheelchairs demonstrating against the bedroom tax, the minister overseeing the government’s welfare reforms is determined Mickey’s fraud will be exposed and punished.

Related in both third and first person, primarily from Mickey’s point of view but with guest appearances from, among others, the Prime Minister, the guidebook to the Monros and Mickey’s dog, Tyke, the novel’s time shifts seemed a little confusing initially; on reflection, this was mostly due to the blurb taking its lead from the event a quarter of the way into the book.
I’d be doing the author a disservice to say it’s the best novel I’ve ever read about mountains, disability benefits and living with HIV; if I’ve read another fictionalisation of such an apparently unlikely combination, it’s long forgotten. But The Making of Mickey Bell is much more than that: a lively, quirky homage to the rugged Scottish countryside, a heartwarming and sometimes humorous celebration of the human spirit against a backdrop of recent British politics.

Conceived before
the EU referendum pushed the gap even wider between the Scottish and UK parliaments (with Scotland voting overwhelmingly in favour of remaining in Europe), I’m hoping Kellan Macinnes is contemplating a follow up. Thanks to Sandstone Press for my review copy.

And while we’re on the subject of Monros, follow the link to one of my own short stories featuring one of the 282:
“Getting to Grips with Liathach” (p57).

Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
3 Comments
Charli Mills
14/4/2017 03:58:55 am

One of the best ways to know a region is to read its fiction. As I settle into Tony Hillerman, I'm looking next for a New Mexico regional press next. They say what makes a western writer (in the US) is that sense of place. So naturally, I'm drawn to many genres but ones with that regional space filled on the page. Both these books sound delightful to read. And I have a new word for the culture I find myself among -- peedie. Odd, but the word wee came to mind as I observed the locals in Gallup. They are petite people, especially compared to Navajo and Anglos. I've learned I'm Anglo. I don't mind. Flash a smile here and everyone grins back in kind. The tallest mountain I've climbed (on horseback, to be fair) was Raymond Peak -- 12,000 feet. Right now we are camped on the high mountain desert at 6,000 feet. But a region of 282 mountains no matter elevation must be majestic to behold and a challenge to traverse. Is your short story published in Firefly? I wasn't certain I had the right link.

Reply
Annecdotist
14/4/2017 01:24:29 pm

Would be good if an Orkney dialect word could be adopted where you are, Charli. Yes, our mountains are molehills relative to many around the world, but I’ve hiked above 12,000 feet in Nepal and Peru. I imagine your mountain desert is pretty cold at night at 6000 feet?
Yeah, that story is in Firefly magazine: you have to scroll down the webpage a little to come to the box and then find page 57. It’s not difficult but when we’re used to links that take us straight there it’s a bit more of a hassle.

Reply
Charli Mills
14/4/2017 05:51:39 pm

The temperatures drop almost 50 degrees at night. A bit chilly yet. To see mountains in Nepal and Peru must have been soul stirring. Ah, that's how the page number comes into play at Firefly. I'm on my way to look it up. Thanks!


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