Greenvoe, the tight-knit community on the Orcadian island of Hellya, has existed unchanged for generations, but Operation Black Star requires the island for unspecified purposes and threatens the islanders’ way of life. A whole host of characters - The Skarf, failed fishermen and Marxist historian; Ivan Westray, boatman and dallier; pious creeler Samuel Whaness; drunken fishermen Bert Kerston; earth-mother Alice Voar, and meths-drinker Timmy Folster - are vividly brought to life in this sparkling mixture of prose and poetry. In the end Operation Black Star fails, but not before it has ruined the island; but the book ends on a note of hope as the islanders return to celebrate the ritual rebirth of Hellya.
ISBN: | 9781846975059 |
Publication date: | 27th June 2019 |
Author: | George Mackay Brown, Ali Smith |
Publisher: | Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited an imprint of Birlinn General |
Format: | Paperback |
Pagination: | 256 pages |
Genres: |
Modern and Contemporary Fiction Literary Fiction |