A novel take on turbulent marriage of Robert Burns

The Jewel is a historical novel which follows the dramatic years of Jean Armour and Robert Burns’ courtship, and their turbulent, passionate married life. Bringing 18th-century Scotland to life, The Jewel is the story of a romantic and tragic relationship, with the death of six children and the early demise of Rab, aged 37. How…

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A walk in the country tied to the autumn of life

Through his countryside walks, Jim Crumley depicts the colourful passage from September to November. Inspired by his experiences of the wonders of wildlife during autumn, powerfully described as ‘a shifting sorcery of shapes and shades’. However, the coming of autumn coincides with the death of his father and therefore resonates in him a more poignant connection to the season. The Nature of Autumn, by…

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Book review – The Walrus Mutterer

Green activist Mandy Haggith marks the beginning of her new Stone Stories trilogy with an adventurous novel taking the reader back to the Iron Age. Set in 320BC in Northern Britain, the book follows Rian, a young woman who is enslaved by a deceptive trader and forced on a perilous sea voyage in search of…

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