The Valley at the Centre of the World

Reviews / Votes

What I've been waiting for: a moving, authentic novel of the Scottish islands in the twenty-first century -- AMY LIPTROT, Sunday Times Bestselling author of THE OUTRUN Utterly beguiling * * Sunday Times * * Life-affirming . . . [Tallack] is a careful and precise writer . . . Given that Mackay Brown and Crichton Smith were two of the best Scottish writers of fiction in the second half of the 20th century, a first novel that sits comfortably alongside their work is a considerable achievement -- Allan Massie * * Scotsman * * Tallack's concern here is with the push and pull of larger forces - love, grief, guilt, need, the idea of home itself. They're potent themes that could, but rarely do, overshadow characters about which he writes with palpable tenderness . . . A sharp-eyed and evocative painter of place * * Daily Mail * * Lyrical . . . Wonderfully atmospheric and moving * * Sunday Express * * In this intense debut novel Malachy Tallack takes us to an isolated world inhabited by a community of utterly believable folk. He is great on the nature of work, how it is done, how it exhausts, how it shows our humanity. And when he gets this right other things naturally follow - like love and empathy and understanding. This book leaves us wanting his next -- BERNARD MACLAVERTY, author of GRACE NOTES and MIDWINTER BREAK A vivid closeup of island life . . . Captures the emotional journey of a man who returns home to remote Shetland and the viewpoints of the people who live there -- Ian Sansom * * Guardian * * A desperately beautiful novel. Tallack writes with such tenderness for his characters and quiet awe for the patch of earth he places them upon. Now that I've turned the last page, I find myself experiencing a strange kind of loneliness -- SARA BAUME, author of SPILL SIMMER FALTER WITHER and A LINE MADE BY WALKING A vivid novel which immediately lands you in Shetland. It wrestles with big questions about land, community and belonging and how place shapes character. It lingers in the mind long after you have finished reading -- MADELEINE BUNTING, author of LOVE OF COUNTRY Beautiful writing, totally believable characters and a really evocative sense of place. A triumph -- NICOLA STURGEON, First Minister of Scotland