Synopsis:

1843. On a remote Scottish island, Ivar, the sole occupant, leads a life of quiet isolation until the day he finds a man unconscious on the beach below the cliffs. The newcomer is John Ferguson, an impoverished church minister sent to evict Ivar and turn the island into grazing land for sheep. Unaware of the stranger’s intentions, Ivar takes him into his home, and in spite of the two men having no common language, a fragile bond begins to form between them. Meanwhile on the mainland, John’s wife Mary anxiously awaits news of his mission.

Rating:

Review:

This has to be the most astoundingly confusing book that I have ever listened to or read. Which is saying a lot because I have read a lot of very strange books. Warning! This review might get a bit ranty. And when I get ranty I tend to post spoilers, so consider yourself warned. But in reality, don’t read this book, it’s not worth your time.

This book is only 196 pages and the audiobook runs barely three hours. I would consider it barely a novella, but it sounded very interesting. The Highland Clearance period hasn’t been written about much and I found myself doing some research on this time in history once I was finished with the book. And wow, this book did a huge disservice to history here.

Let’s start with the good stuff. This will be brief. The writing was lovely. Emotionally evocative, lyrical, perfectly set the scene to a misty Scottish morning on a remote island with nothing but sheep for company. It was delightful. I didn’t even mind that 90% of what we were writing was about the wildlife and weather, I was captivating by the descriptions and the writing. I was really invested in what was going to happen. John had gained Ivar’s trust and had become his friend, how would he handle the job he’d been hired to do. Would he actually evict Ivar from the island? Would he refuse and someone else come to finish the job?

About 20 minutes from the end this book fell apart. Completely. Entirely. Rather than actually address any of the deep, heavy issues that the book had set up the author decided to side step all of them. John decided to engage in a sexual relationship with Ivar. Which is an odd choice for an 1840s pastor who is deeply devoted to his faith and his wife. Even more inexplicably John’s wife jumps right on board with their new relationship and decides that the three of them should leave the island together and all live together. And 1840s throuple everyone! And so Ivar sails off into the sunset with his new lover and his wife. Wow. I legitimately had no words for that ending. It makes no sense in the context of the time period. It makes no sense in the context of the characters the author created. And it, somehow, managed to try and sidestep any of the real issues within the narrative with a happily ever after ending. Rather than making some kind of point about the brutality of the Highland Clearances, we just ride off into the sunset together. Isn’t that so wonderful? It doesn’t matter that John was supposed to kick him off the island, strip him of everything he’d ever known because the landlord wanted to stick a bunch of sheep there instead. Ivar fell in love and wanted to leave! Problem averted.