The Salt and the Flame
Published on 18. January 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-915089-89-2 (ISBN)
Description
April 21, 1923. The SS Metagama is inching out of Stornoway harbour on the Isle of Lewis, bound for Canada. On board are Finlay and Mairead; they are young and hopeful, leaving behind a community that has been touched by tragedy to change their lives forever...
On the other side of the Atlantic, though, they face the realities of an uncaring industrial society. The effects of the Great Depression are inescapable, prejudice and division are rife, and though they remain bound by a shared past, their own lives soon diverge.
In an adopted country that is tense with both opportunity and loss, social progress and violent backlash, can Mairead and Finlay keep their promises to one another, to look only forward, and resist the constant pull of home?
From the author of the prize-winning As the Women Lay Dreaming comes a poignant and deeply evocative novel of the 20th-century emigrant experience in the New World. With lyrical prose and masterful storytelling, Murray paints a vivid portrait of the resilient Hebrideans-in-exile who struggled between holding on and letting go.
On the other side of the Atlantic, though, they face the realities of an uncaring industrial society. The effects of the Great Depression are inescapable, prejudice and division are rife, and though they remain bound by a shared past, their own lives soon diverge.
In an adopted country that is tense with both opportunity and loss, social progress and violent backlash, can Mairead and Finlay keep their promises to one another, to look only forward, and resist the constant pull of home?
From the author of the prize-winning As the Women Lay Dreaming comes a poignant and deeply evocative novel of the 20th-century emigrant experience in the New World. With lyrical prose and masterful storytelling, Murray paints a vivid portrait of the resilient Hebrideans-in-exile who struggled between holding on and letting go.
Reviews / Votes
'Trauma and separation, war and poverty, identity and belonging are all universal themes ... [an] expertly blended distillation of these human truths.' -- West Highland Free Press 'A powerful and poignant exploration of the Hebridean migrant experience.' -- Herald 'Very good indeed ... [told] with art and with sincerity.' -- Shetland Times 'A moving portrait of a place and its people ... a quiet, sad but brilliant novel.' -- Times, Book of the Month "Murray is brilliant on the push and pull of the islands on those who left ... [the novel] is tender, wise and beautiful." -- Antonia Senior, The Times, Book of the Month "Moving, convincing and crafted with great skill ... and distinguished by emotional sincerity. There is also an admirable economy ... [written] with such skill and empathy that the novel seems to have been remembered rather than invented ... arguably his best novel yet." -- Allan Massie, Scotsman "Well-researched and heartfelt ... an especially poignant story, told with an abundance of humanity and compassion." -- Alastair Mabbott, HeraldMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Salford
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 193 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
200 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-915089-89-2 (9781915089892)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Writer and poet Donald S Murray is an Honorary Fellow of the Association for Scottish Literature who has won the Society of Authors' Paul Torday Memorial Prize (2012, for As the Women Lay Dreaming) and the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award (2021), among many awards for his historical fiction, creative non-fiction and poems. His critically acclaimed books bring to life the culture and nature of the Scottish islands, and he appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland and as a live performer.