Clear

Starred review from January 15, 2024
A minister’s conscience is tested in the perceptive and beautiful latest from Davies (The Mission House). In 1847 Scotland, John Fergusen has recently broken from the Church of Scotland as part of a movement to form the Free Church, which aims to be independent from the influence of landowners. It’s also lacking in funds and unable to pay salaries to its leaders. John and his wife Mary are now impoverished, and he contracts with a landowner for £16 to perform an unsavory errand on a remote island. His task, which flies in the face of his purported principles, is to arm himself with a gun and evict the island’s sole remaining tenant, Ivar, so the land can be cleared for sheep. In alternating chapters from the points of view of Ivar, John, and Mary, Davies gradually unfurls the story of John’s calamitous arrival on the island, which involves a near-fatal fall from a cliff; his unexpected friendship with Ivar, who nurses him back to health; and Mary’s concern about John’s safety, which prompts her to board a steamer and come to his rescue. Davies cranks a great deal of tension into the economical plot—as the weeks pass, the reader wonders if John will finally tell Ivar why he’s there, whether the gun will ever go off, and how Mary’s impending arrival will affect the two men. Moreover, each page blooms with wondrous descriptions of the untamed highlands (“Now and then a long smudge of rain in the distance screened the sun, sending its illumination down onto a band of water along the horizon before it burst through again and lit up the pasture”). This is divine. Agent: Bill Clegg, Clegg Agency.

June 1, 2024

Davies (The Mission House) delivers a unique and moving novel about a minister tasked with evicting the lone inhabitant of a remote island north of Scotland. The story is set in 1843, toward the end of the Scottish Clearances, when thousands of unfortunate residents were forcibly removed through mandatory evictions. Against his wife's wishes, John, a poor Scottish minister desperate to earn some income, agrees to relocate Ivar from the island. When John arrives at the island, however, he immediately falls off a cliff and is nursed back to health by Ivar, who has no idea what John's arrival means for him. Used to being solitary, with only his animals and the ocean for company, Ivar quickly takes to John. Together, they work past their language barriers and begin to understand each other, forging a close friendship, which prompts both to reconsider past assumptions and points of view. The audiobook is impeccably narrated by Russ Bain, whose pleasing Scottish timbre infuses the story with authenticity and heart. VERDICT Although this novel is brief, it makes an impact, showcasing the nuances of conversations, the complexity of relationships, and hauntingly beautiful writing.--Erin Cataldi

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