Nothing left to fear from hell

Emma — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Shortlisted for The Winston Graham Historical PrizeA battle lost. A daring escape. A long walk into obscurity. The ultimate failure?In the aftermath of the disastrous Battle of Culloden, a lonely figure takes flight with a small band of companions through the islands and mountains of the Hebrides. His name is Charles Edward Stuart: better known today as Bonnie Prince Charlie. He had come to the country to take the throne. Now he is leaving in exile and abject defeat.In prose that is by turns poetic, comic, macabre, haunting and humane, multi- award-winning author Alan Warner traces the frantic last journey through Scotland of a man who history will come to define for his failure.’Written in carefully crafted prose . . . this reimagining of Charles Edward Stuart’s escape from Culloden is a triumph’ – Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman

The Pavilion in the Clouds

Emma — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

It is 1938 and the final days of the British Empire. In a bungalow high up in the green hills above the plains of Ceylon, under a vast blue sky, live the Ferguson family: Bella, a precocious eight-year-old; her father Henry – owner of Pitlochry, a tea plantation – and her mother Virginia. The story centres around the Pavilion in the Clouds, set in the idyllic grounds carved out of the wilderness. But all is not as serene as it seems. Bella is suspicious of her governess, Miss White’s intentions. Her suspicion sparks off her mother’s imagination and after an unfortunate series of events, a confrontation is had with Miss White and a gunshot rings off around the hills.Years later, Bella, now living back in Scotland at university in St Andrews, is faced, once again with her past. Will she at last find out what happened between her Father and Miss White? And will the guilt she has lived with all these years be reconciled by a long over-due apology?

Polygon – The Bell Bookshop

Nothing left to fear from hell

The Pavilion in the Clouds