Modern Scottish Collections

Sara Maitland has been in the review columns recently due to the publication of the paperback edition of her intriguing A book of silence, but I have been dipping into her most recent short story collection Far North. The deeply spiritual Maitland was born in Galloway, and after many years away, is now back in that area, living in a remote house. I have nt seen the film of the title story – it stars Sean Bean as the hunter who threatens to disrupt the life of two Inuit women – but I can imagine the frozen landscape and the lonely lives might transfer well to the screen. It is, however, only one of many striking tales based on classical mythology and myths from around the world in this book. Rapunzel, Casandra, and the Biblical Sarah all appear, as does, perhaps more surprisingly the dead St. Cuthbert who has been blessed with a miraculously incorruptible body he longs to be rid of. It is an intriguing collection from an original writer.

I’m in the middle of The tin-kin the highly praised debut novel by young Scottish writer Eleanor Thom. Some distinguished names, including Janice Galloway and Alice Thompson have called up comparisons with Jessie Kesson and Ali Smith and it is easy to see why. The tin-kin tells of Dawn’s return to the north of Scotland with her little daughter Maeve. The aunt who brought her up has died, and Dawn has inherited her flat, full of ornaments and velour furniture. Once back she has to face her estranged family, the possibility of meeting Maeve’s father again, the clearing of the flat, and as it turns out, her family’s hidden history. Thom uses the well-established device of the locked cupboard and the mysterious photo album. What exactly are the secrets ? The clues are there in the alternating chapters of the book – we are introduced to a Traveller family in the 1950s. What is the connection ? As I wait for the plot to develop I am enjoying the quality of the writing –the sharp Scots of the dialogue, the perfect capturing of uneasy family relationships, the lyricism – it looks very promising indeed ! Eleanor Thom was one of the recipients of the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship in 2007, and it looks like she has a great future.

It is good to see Oneworld Classics have recently brought out a new edition of Man at leisure the little-known collection of poetry by Scotland’s very own underground literary hero and erstwhile pornographer Alexander Trocchi. Trocchi, who died in 1984, is best known for his haunting novel Young Adam, a short but intriguing tale of a a handsome drifter working a barge between Glasgow and Leith, filmed a few years back with a stellar Scottish cast. I re-read it recently and was reminded of its fresh erotic quality – certainly not part of the Scottish kailyard tradition !

Jason Donald’s first novel comes complete with praise from Janice Galloway – “reads like a dream” – so expectations are high and not disappointed. Choke chain is a beautifully written story of two boys in sunny suburban South Africa – in a household dominated by a powerful father. It opens with a strikingly described hail storm – “the size of apricots” – and we are very quickly drawn into the domestic life of the family -the boys Alex and Kevin, Bruce, the macho dad who believes in deceit and petty crime, and Grace the unnaturally quiet mum, who starts to fall apart as events progress. A compelling read, at times shocking. moving, and even funny, it builds to a dramatic climax and a believable resolution. Born in Dundee but raised in Pretoria and now living in Glasgow, Jason Donald has delivered a stunning debut.

It is a familiar enough story – would-be author touts manuscript around various publishers, collects rejection slips, decides to stick it in the drawer, is saved from dejection by last-minute interest, sees it sell many copies, win prizes etc etc. This is what happened to Broughty Ferry based Andrew Nicoll with The Good Mayor. The Saltire Society liked it well enough to name it as Best First Book, and the Scottish Arts Council has just given it a nod in its nominations. Apparently the rejection slips noted that it was too “unusual” – it is certainly unexpected. This is a love story set in the Baltic town of Dot – the river is called Ampersand, perhaps you begin to get an idea of the tone ? Mayor Tibo Krovic falls in love with his beautiful secretary Mrs Agathe Stopak and she loves him back – but communication problems get in the way and Tibo misses his chance. The setting is almost Ruritania, not a Cold War in sight, and the style is like the pastries the characters always seem to be eating. I was diverted by the whimsy and unexpectedly moved by the resolution, and I suspect a lot of others will be too.

I have fond memories of Under the skin – surely the best novel we have about alien abduction in Scotland -so I was ready to be intrigued by Michael Faber’s acclaimed The fire gospel and was not disappointed. Here Faber has taken a plot which would not disgrace a Dan Brown or a Da Vinci code as academic Theo makes a chance discovery in an Iraq museum and soon finds himself propelled to international celebrity. What he finds is a previously unknown Biblical document which, as you might expect, rocks Christianity to its core. Faber of course is too clever a writer to settle for a straightforward thriller format – it is a fast-paced, often very funny read, beautifully packaged in faux devotional style by Canongate as part of their Myths series.

I’ve been re-reading Leila Aboulela’s delicate love story The Translator. It is a deceptively simple tale set in Aberdeen and Khartoum and tells of a young Sudanese widow working in a University department as an Arabic translator.Her grief and sense of isolation eventually make way for love via a Scottish academic with a bad case of asthma and two ex-wives. That summary does nt do justice to the subtle poetry of Aboulela’s prose or the contrasting descriptions of grey Aberdeen and hot Khartoum. But the main subject here is the human heart. The Saltire Society quite rightly nominated this touching and perceptive novel for their first book award. Aptly enough it has been and continues to be widely translated – we are about to receive the Spanish and Dutch versions.

James Meek has come up with a very different book from his previous success The people’s act of love – this one is a contemporary story, following Adam a Scottish journalist from the war zones of Afghanistan to Iraq, via America’s rural South. Meek is a sharp and intelligent writer, although those looking for the haunting quality of his last book may be disappointed. Books from Scotland calls it ” a timeless tale of folly and the pursuit of love, set against the incendiary politics of our time” which sums it up neatly. I rather liked the hero’s romantic tryst under the Afghan skies, the chaotic nightmare of a dinner party, his drunken first class flight to New York, and the confrontations over the kitchen table in Dumfries. And I dont recall another novel where the familiar – to me – train journey from Carlisle to Dumfries features! The French translation passed over my desk last week, so I suspect he – and Canongate- may have another international success on their hands.

Before I launch myself into some reading of the new biographies of Robert Burns, I’ve been catching up with another iconic literary figure through one of Canongate’s interesting titles from a few years back. Alberto Manguel’s Stevenson under the palm trees is a slim novella, describing the last days of R.L.S. on Samoa. Accurately described as “a finely crafted jewel” – prettily decorated with woodcuts by Stevenson- this is an intriguing little read. In the mangrove swamps Samoa’s no.1 literary celebrity meets a newly arrived missionary from Edinburgh, very different from the novelist, and yet connected. The grim Mr Baker reminds the author of home. A beautiful young woman is murdered, but who killed her? Trouble in paradise for R.L.S.

Despite hopes that it might appear in my Christmas stocking,I finally got my hands on Janice Galloway’s childhood memoir This is not about me with the help of the Edinburgh Central Library. It was well worth waiting for the reservation to come through. Ardrossan in the 1950s and 1960s is pungently recreated – the rituals of family life, the pain, the songs, the jokes, the clothes, the sweeties. It is no surprise at all, given the author’s skill as a novelist, that this is a beautifully written memoir, nor indeed that it makes a haunting and at times shocking read. I suspect that Janice Galloway will be feted for this book for some time to come – there’s another chance to catch her discussing it at Glasgow’s aye write! festival in March.