Insider's Choice: New Scottish Books to look out for in October
Vikki Reilly of Publishing Scotland highlights some notable new releases for the month ahead
The Hollywood heavyweights are out in force next month: we have Reese Witherspoon’s collaboration with thriller writer Harlan Coben, Brie Larson’s cookery collaboration with chef Courtney McBroom and Keira Knightley’s book for children. In Scotland we have new releases from some of our big names too: Graeme Macrae Burnet joins the marvellous Darklands series with Benbecula; crime fiction fans can rejoice with the latest Karen Pirie thriller from Val McDermid, Silent Bones, and the return of Jimmy Perez in Ann Cleeves’ latest Shetland mystery, The Killing Stones; and Andrew O’ Hagan is bringing out a personal reflection on close relationships in On Friendship, a subject he wrote about so wonderfully in his novel Mayflies.
Recently, there have been a number Frankenstein-inspired tales. You may have read Clairmont by Lesley McDowell, Our Hideous Progeny by CE McGill or Mary by Anne Eekhout, and this month we can add Mairi Kidd’s Poor Creatures (Black & White Publishing, 23 October, £16.99) to the mix. In the novel, Kidd reimagines Mary Shelley’s teenage friendship with Isabel Baxter on a trip to Scotland in 1812. Poor Creatures portrays perfectly the intense relationship between two young women who are sensitive, intelligent, curious and anxious about their desires and their status within their families and wider society. And though the novel is historical, it is reminiscent of contemporary feminist body horror novels—which Frankenstein plays a huge role in influencing— in its exploration of womens’ lack of control over their life choices, physical selves and their own narrative legacies.
Staying with the otherworldly, we come to the release of TL Huchu’s Secrets of the First School, the final instalment of his fantastical Edinburgh Nights series (Tor, 16 October, £20). Throughout the series he skillfully mixes the city’s Enlightenment history, African magic and thrilling adventure in multiple supernatural worlds, all set against a reimagined Edinburgh on the brink of civil collapse. This last novel begins with the wise-cracking ghost stalker Ropa Moyo at her lowest ebb, and the Society of Sceptical Enquirers—Scotland’s premier magical professional body—riven by rivalry and conflict. But Ropa won’t be kept down for long; she has too much spirit, as well as a gang of friends that have her back despite the danger ahead.
After the release of Len Pennie’s Poyums Annaw last month, I want to draw your attention to another fantastic Scots poetry collection. Amongst the praise for Hamish MacDonald’s Square Baw (Scotland Street Press, 9 October, £9.99) is James Robertson’s comment that it “makes a persuasive argument in support of the Shankly dictum that football is much more important than a matter of life and death.” Generational memories, historical moments, and family connections can all be found in these poems on the beautiful game, and all in a Scots that is warm, robust and sensuous.
Finally, to Dominic Hinde’s Drifting North (Manchester University Press, 28 October, £20), his travelogue in search of a sustainable future for Scotland and beyond. Sounds serious, and it is; there’s a palpable sense of despair as he covers our industrial past and current climate reality. Yet with each journey comes an appreciation of real possibility, if only the powers-that-be had the same will to be as bold as those Hinde interviews.
Vikki Reilly has worked in Scottish books for over 20 years and now works for Publishing Scotland, the trade and networking body for Scotland’s book publishing sector. She also edits BooksfromScotland.com, a website that promotes the best in Scottish writing, contemporary and classic, and supports Scottish publishers and authors to find new audiences.
The Scotsman’s arts newsletter is now sent twice a week - subscribe today
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.