Books
A third celebration of powerful Scottish women
Mairi Kidd dedicates a third of her book to powerful Scottish women (the remainder to Irish and Welsh equivalents) whose tales have been overlooked or banished to the footnotes of historic literature. It is hard to look beyond the underlying politics of the narrative – with a strong focus on the fight for gender equality…
Read MoreA celebration and history of Scottish art and artists
Have you ever wondered about the backstory of James Guthrie’s ‘To Pastures New’ painting? Or indeed the tale of Henry Raeburn? Here to fill the art history void in our lives is Lachlan Goudie with this wonderful snapshot of Scottish art through the centuries – a comprehensive account of the nation’s creative history that caters…
Read MoreA collection of the supernatural in Scotland
Assorted strange phenomena abound in Scotland – witches, wizards, fairies, sea monsters, yeti-type creatures, UFOs and a plethora of female spirits called glastigs and caoineags who appear in various forms. A collection of ghostly hauntings, blood-chilling tales and strange phenomena abound in Scotland are gathered together in a new book, Paranormal Scotland, by Gilly Pickup.…
Read MoreCasting a spell to protect the world from the Fae
Seeking to protect the world from the Fae, Scottish sigil agent Aloysius MacBharrais is eccentric, and as a sexagenarian he is a welcome change from the tormented teenage protagonists that dominate fantasy genres. However, Hearne admits in the author’s note that he struggled with Glaswegians’ accent in real life. The characters’ Scottish accents feel laboured…
Read MoreA study of the natural world’s fragility in photos
Colin Prior’s works are unfathomably beautiful, and while his fascination for landscape photography has earned him his stripes, his love for the resident wildlife has also intensified throughout a career which spans almost four decades. Having witnessed myriad species of bird suffer in the wake of human activity, Prior documents the natural world’s fragile equilibrium in…
Read MoreNo.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series is still on form
It is a rarity to find each book in a long series as enjoyable as the last, and yet McCall Smith’s 21st instalment of his much adored No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency has captured the imagination once more. Grabbing the attention from the get-go in a stifling Gaborone setting, McCall Smith’s intelligent yarn is woven with…
Read MoreOutlander, wildlife and ships in our latest podcast
The sixth episode of the Scottish Field podcast is out now – and what a mix we have for you this week. We head to Orkney to meet Scottish Field’s wildlife writer Cal Flyn, who recently took on the position as Scottish Field’s wildlife writer. Her recent features have included red squirrels, razor clams, and…
Read MoreThrills in a 1970s-set piece of tartan noir
Follow detective Harry McCoy as his hunches lead him across a Glasgow landscape rife with drugs and violence, in search of answers. As any good piece of tartan noir should, it introduces you to a slew of questionable characters who definitely muddy the waters between good and evil, although in 1970s Glasgow maybe this was…
Read MoreLife lessons we can learn from our distant past
To see the world through the eyes of acclaimed archaeologist and television presenter Neil Oliver, if only for a day, would be a true gift – and Wisdom of the Ancients: Life Lessons From Our Distant Past is about as close as it gets. It pays testament to Oliver’s enthusiasm for the history woven into…
Read MoreThe fascinating story of a woman taken to St Kilda
Based on a true story, The Unreliable Death of Lady Grange is a rollickingly good piece of historical fiction. Lady Grange is presumed dead, but in reality is whisked away from her family by the man she loves to live out her life in seclusion. The story of a stormy relationship ending in the worst…
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