Books
Examining the works of artist Pat Douthwaite
The expressive work of artist Patricia Douthwaite (1934-2002) is tricky to define and has changed over the years. Her work initially represented her naivety with themes of culture and intelligence. In the later years of her art career there is a significant difference in Douthwaite’s themes and intentions. Her art was not made for the…
Read MoreThe Scots who made an impact in Argentina
Caithness to Patagonia tells the unknown story of emigration from Scotland to Patagonia. These two locations are literally a world apart, however in the late 19th and early 20th centuries a group of Scottish men and women from Caithness took on the challenge of developing this wild, open area of land. The story begins with…
Read MoreMagical tales from ancient Scots mythology
The Old Grey Magician is a compilation of short stories featuring Fionn and his crowd of men (the Fianna) and his poet son, Ossian. The Old Grey Magician is a mystical figure who frequently appears throughout Celtic mythology, often taking on different forms and shapeshifting. This book is one of the first collections featuring a…
Read MoreA terrifying look into a fictional tomorrow
Lie of the Land, the debut novel from Michael F Russell, is set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian Scotland in the not-so-distant future. An authoritarian government is in place, with all that entails. Internet development has increased to such an extent as to allow the powers that be to be able to control minds – the…
Read MoreA thought-provoking collection of poetry
Liz Lochhead’s innovative compilation of poems speak of locations, relationships and individuals, featuring humour and thought-provoking themes to enrich the imagery. All of the poems are greatly varied in topic, but are distinguished by Lochhead’s individual style. Numerous pieces featured in this book show elements of truth, sorrow, anticipation and confusion. All of these themes…
Read MoreAn epic tale set during the time of Culloden
Surrey-born author Kimberley Jordan Reeman has created an epic 782-page book that is not for the faint hearted. Set in Scotland in 1746 during the bloody military occupation of the Highlands, gut-wrenching atrocities set a distinctly dark tone from the outset. But when English soldier Mordaunt saves an infant from the horrors of 18th-century rebellion,…
Read MoreThe tragic story of a Scots soldier – in his own words
So many Scottish families have their own stories from World Wars I and II. This is the biography of Charles Grant Tennant, a pacifist who joined the Army at the outbreak of the Great War and died in May 1915. Cumbrae-based Fergus Boyle has assembled a fascinating first-hand account of the life of his great-uncle,…
Read MoreAlexander McCall Smith is Mr Brightside
Alexander McCall Smith, whose books are a prescription for happiness, talks about his responsibility to his readers and the female influences in his life. His kitchen table is hiding beneath the complete works of Yotam Ottolenghi, the current darling of the adventurous middle-class kitchen. Sandy, as everyone calls him, is on dinner duty tonight and…
Read MoreDetective solving a murder crime back in time
Seventeenth-century detective duo MacKenzie and Scougall are asked by a Highland clan to solve a case, after a young lawyer’s body is found near Edinburgh. Their investigations are set against the political turmoil of the time, with Jacobite rebels and Bonnie Dundee, as they try to fi nd out just who wanted Aeneas MacLeod dead.…
Read MoreThe bravery and sacrifice of brave Scot Jane Haining
The true story of Scottish heroine Jane Haining is a truly harrowing one. As matron of a Hungarian residential school that housed Jewish orphans, Jane protected them with all her might, refusing to flee the country in 1944 – a decision that ultimately led to her death. Her story of self-sacrifice is portrayed by Miller…
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