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Shetland #Companion
Shetland
Ann Cleeves' bestselling series of crime novels, featuring Detective Jimmy Perez, and now also adapted for a major BBC television series, draw their inspiration from the place in which they take place: Shetland.
An archipelago of more than a hundred islands, it is the one of the most remote places in the United Kingdom. Its fifteen hundred miles of shore mean that wherever one stands, there is a view of the sea. It has sheltered voes and beaches and dramatically exposed cliffs, lush meadows full of wild flowers in the summer and bleak hilltops where only the hardiest of plants will grow. It is a place where traditions are valued and celebrated, but new technologies and ways of working are also embraced.
In this gloriously illustrated companion to her novels, Ann Cleeves takes readers through a year on Shetland, learning about its past, meeting its people, celebrating its festivals and seeing how the flora and fauna of the islands changes with the seasons. Whether it is the drama of the Viking fire festival of Up Helly Aa in winter, or the piercing blue and hot pink of spring flowers on the clifftops, the long, white nights of midsummer or the fierce gales and high tides of autumn, Shetland is vividly captured in all its bleak and special beauty.
An archipelago of more than a hundred islands, it is the one of the most remote places in the United Kingdom. Its fifteen hundred miles of shore mean that wherever one stands, there is a view of the sea. It has sheltered voes and beaches and dramatically exposed cliffs, lush meadows full of wild flowers in the summer and bleak hilltops where only the hardiest of plants will grow. It is a place where traditions are valued and celebrated, but new technologies and ways of working are also embraced.
In this gloriously illustrated companion to her novels, Ann Cleeves takes readers through a year on Shetland, learning about its past, meeting its people, celebrating its festivals and seeing how the flora and fauna of the islands changes with the seasons. Whether it is the drama of the Viking fire festival of Up Helly Aa in winter, or the piercing blue and hot pink of spring flowers on the clifftops, the long, white nights of midsummer or the fierce gales and high tides of autumn, Shetland is vividly captured in all its bleak and special beauty.
201 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 22, 2015
267 people are currently reading
1084 people want to read
About the author
Ann Cleeves
131 books8,819 followersAnn is the author of the books behind ITV's VERA, now in it's third series, and the BBC's SHETLAND, which will be aired in December 2012. Ann's DI Vera Stanhope series of books is set in Northumberland and features the well loved detective along with her partner Joe Ashworth. Ann's Shetland series bring us DI Jimmy Perez, investigating in the mysterious, dark, and beautiful Shetland Islands...
Ann grew up in the country, first in Herefordshire, then in North Devon. Her father was a village school teacher. After dropping out of university she took a number of temporary jobs - child care officer, women's refuge leader, bird observatory cook, auxiliary coastguard - before going back to college and training to be a probation officer.
While she was cooking in the Bird Observatory on Fair Isle, she met her husband Tim, a visiting ornithologist. She was attracted less by the ornithology than the bottle of malt whisky she saw in his rucksack when she showed him his room. Soon after they married, Tim was appointed as warden of Hilbre, a tiny tidal island nature reserve in the Dee Estuary. They were the only residents, there was no mains electricity or water and access to the mainland was at low tide across the shore. If a person's not heavily into birds - and Ann isn't - there's not much to do on Hilbre and that was when she started writing. Her first series of crime novels features the elderly naturalist, George Palmer-Jones. A couple of these books are seriously dreadful.
In 1987 Tim, Ann and their two daughters moved to Northumberland and the north east provides the inspiration for many of her subsequent titles. The girls have both taken up with Geordie lads. In the autumn of 2006, Ann and Tim finally achieved their ambition of moving back to the North East.
For the National Year of Reading, Ann was made reader-in-residence for three library authorities. It came as a revelation that it was possible to get paid for talking to readers about books! She went on to set up reading groups in prisons as part of the Inside Books project, became Cheltenham Literature Festival's first reader-in-residence and still enjoys working with libraries.
Ann Cleeves on stage at the Duncan Lawrie Dagger awards ceremony
Ann's short film for Border TV, Catching Birds, won a Royal Television Society Award. She has twice been short listed for a CWA Dagger Award - once for her short story The Plater, and the following year for the Dagger in the Library award.
In 2006 Ann Cleeves was the first winner of the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award of the Crime Writers' Association for Raven Black, the first volume of her Shetland Quartet. The Duncan Lawrie Dagger replaces the CWA's Gold Dagger award, and the winner receives £20,000, making it the world's largest award for crime fiction.
Ann's success was announced at the 2006 Dagger Awards ceremony at the Waldorf Hilton, in London's Aldwych, on Thursday 29 June 2006. She said: "I have never won anything before in my life, so it was a complete shock - but lovely of course.. The evening was relatively relaxing because I'd lost my voice and knew that even if the unexpected happened there was physically no way I could utter a word. So I wouldn't have to give a speech. My editor was deputed to do it!"
The judging panel consisted of Geoff Bradley (non-voting Chair), Lyn Brown MP (a committee member on the London Libraries service), Frances Gray (an academic who writes about and teaches courses on modern crime fiction), Heather O'Donoghue (academic, linguist, crime fiction reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement, and keen reader of all crime fiction) and Barry Forshaw (reviewer and editor of Crime Time magazine).
Ann's books have been translated into sixteen languages. She's a bestseller in Scandinavia and Germany. Her novels sell widely and to critical acclaim in the United States. Raven Black was shortlisted for the Martin Beck award for best translated crime novel in Sweden in 200
Ann grew up in the country, first in Herefordshire, then in North Devon. Her father was a village school teacher. After dropping out of university she took a number of temporary jobs - child care officer, women's refuge leader, bird observatory cook, auxiliary coastguard - before going back to college and training to be a probation officer.
While she was cooking in the Bird Observatory on Fair Isle, she met her husband Tim, a visiting ornithologist. She was attracted less by the ornithology than the bottle of malt whisky she saw in his rucksack when she showed him his room. Soon after they married, Tim was appointed as warden of Hilbre, a tiny tidal island nature reserve in the Dee Estuary. They were the only residents, there was no mains electricity or water and access to the mainland was at low tide across the shore. If a person's not heavily into birds - and Ann isn't - there's not much to do on Hilbre and that was when she started writing. Her first series of crime novels features the elderly naturalist, George Palmer-Jones. A couple of these books are seriously dreadful.
In 1987 Tim, Ann and their two daughters moved to Northumberland and the north east provides the inspiration for many of her subsequent titles. The girls have both taken up with Geordie lads. In the autumn of 2006, Ann and Tim finally achieved their ambition of moving back to the North East.
For the National Year of Reading, Ann was made reader-in-residence for three library authorities. It came as a revelation that it was possible to get paid for talking to readers about books! She went on to set up reading groups in prisons as part of the Inside Books project, became Cheltenham Literature Festival's first reader-in-residence and still enjoys working with libraries.
Ann Cleeves on stage at the Duncan Lawrie Dagger awards ceremony
Ann's short film for Border TV, Catching Birds, won a Royal Television Society Award. She has twice been short listed for a CWA Dagger Award - once for her short story The Plater, and the following year for the Dagger in the Library award.
In 2006 Ann Cleeves was the first winner of the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award of the Crime Writers' Association for Raven Black, the first volume of her Shetland Quartet. The Duncan Lawrie Dagger replaces the CWA's Gold Dagger award, and the winner receives £20,000, making it the world's largest award for crime fiction.
Ann's success was announced at the 2006 Dagger Awards ceremony at the Waldorf Hilton, in London's Aldwych, on Thursday 29 June 2006. She said: "I have never won anything before in my life, so it was a complete shock - but lovely of course.. The evening was relatively relaxing because I'd lost my voice and knew that even if the unexpected happened there was physically no way I could utter a word. So I wouldn't have to give a speech. My editor was deputed to do it!"
The judging panel consisted of Geoff Bradley (non-voting Chair), Lyn Brown MP (a committee member on the London Libraries service), Frances Gray (an academic who writes about and teaches courses on modern crime fiction), Heather O'Donoghue (academic, linguist, crime fiction reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement, and keen reader of all crime fiction) and Barry Forshaw (reviewer and editor of Crime Time magazine).
Ann's books have been translated into sixteen languages. She's a bestseller in Scandinavia and Germany. Her novels sell widely and to critical acclaim in the United States. Raven Black was shortlisted for the Martin Beck award for best translated crime novel in Sweden in 200
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
June 26, 2016
Ann Cleeves writes one of my favorite mystery series, her Shetland Island Thrillers. In this gorgeous "coffee table" book, she gives us a tour of The Shetlands, tells us about their history and how she came to fall in love with the area. Like the novels, the book is organized by seasons. I'm happy I now have a very clear picture to conjure up when I read the novels as well as a detailed map of the area. This is a must-read for any fan of the mystery series, but also for anyone wanting to know more about this region of the world.
April 7, 2019
Ann Cleeves writes in the acknowledgements that she is a writer of fiction and struggles with non-fiction and it is fair to say that there was a hint of that in this book which sometimes felt a wee bit flat... as if it was a book she was asked to do rather than simply had to write. I'm not entirely sure though how much the 'flat' word is in my mind because of the photographs which rather give an impression of Shetland as a flat and treeless landscape.
That said, it was still an enjoyable and worthwhile read, combining facts about Shetland and her books and the TV series made from them, with her personal experiences there. As befits someone who has set her characters in the contemporary landscape, she does not give a token nod to modern lifestyles, they are central. I was very glad of the map which revealed that the Shetland geography in my head had been way off the reality.
Since the book was published, Ann Cleeves has been widowed and this made the writing about the wildlife, especially birds, poignant as it must have had (and she mentions this) help from her birder husband Tim. There are some glorious images and I liked too the photographs of Lerwick, within the town and from a distance.
That said, it was still an enjoyable and worthwhile read, combining facts about Shetland and her books and the TV series made from them, with her personal experiences there. As befits someone who has set her characters in the contemporary landscape, she does not give a token nod to modern lifestyles, they are central. I was very glad of the map which revealed that the Shetland geography in my head had been way off the reality.
Since the book was published, Ann Cleeves has been widowed and this made the writing about the wildlife, especially birds, poignant as it must have had (and she mentions this) help from her birder husband Tim. There are some glorious images and I liked too the photographs of Lerwick, within the town and from a distance.
July 3, 2017
Povinná četba pro všechny suchozemce stravované touhou po vzdálených ostrovech a pro všechny čtenáře uhranuté shetlandskými krimi romány Ann Cleevesové. Prý je to typická "coffee table book". Pokud ano a jste vlastníky kavárny a knížku do ní pořídíte a někdo si ji otevře, máte o pár dalších návštěv vystaráno. Fotografie jsou skvělé, třeba papuchalk s hromadou úhořů v zobáku nebo neklidné vlny rozbíjející se o útesy Fair Isle nebo západy slunce a polární záře na širokém horizontu, ty snímky vás vtáhnou a pohltí. Ale pak je tady ještě text, na rozdíl od jiných výpravných publikací není jen doprovodný, ale opravdu vypráví. Po krátkém úvodu vás autorka provede všemi čtyřmi ročními dobami, přičemž odvážně začne tou nejdrsnější. Zima, jaro, léto a podzim rámují nejen popisy přírody, krajiny, moře, flóry i fauny s pochopitelným zaměřením na ptactvo, ale též místních lidí, jejich sídel, tradic a svátků včetně toho nejznámějšího, Up Helly Aa. Zvláštní šmrnc knize dodává propojení popisovaných míst s autorčinou tvorbou a její komentáře, odkud brala inspiraci a kde čerpala náměty pro své romány. Někde mezi jarem a létem jsem si začla hledat spojení na Shetlandy a málem jsem balila kufry, ale když jsem se pročetla k podzimu, zase jsem si to rozmyslela. Další knihu s Jimmy Perezem si ale přečtu určitě.
April 23, 2017
I read the ebook so I didn't realize till seeing other reviews that it's a coffee table book. That explains a lot. Beautiful photography, including some historical knitting pictures. This book was fully worth reading for the knitting pics alone. The rest was meh for me. I did not want to read passages from the author's novels here when I have not yet read those novels. I didn't really care about what felt like 500 pages of sea bird talk. I extra super didn't care about where the locals get coffee or whatever. But I understand now that it's a coffee table book. You don't really read coffee table books, do you?
November 29, 2019
Ah, Shetland, you are so beautiful! After reading and watching the Jimmy Perez series, I feel as if I know this place! Excuse me while I go in search of a tammie norrie.
October 12, 2020
Ann Cleves homage to the setting for her series featuring Jimmy Perez with his curly black hair and and Spanish olive complexion. Fourteen hours north of Scotland by ferry and close to the Arctic Circle and Norway Shetland is infused with Viking Culture. With winter darkness and summer suns that barely set despite its northern aspect it is warmed by the Gulf Stream’s North Atlantic drift getting more fog and rain than snow most winters. Covered by peat fishing and mining were the traditional industries along with thousands of sheep that gave rise to spinning, weaving and knitting. Remarkable how one can knit while doing almost anything else including packing dried peat blocks home. An ornithologists dream come true pelagic birds come ashore here to breed and others to winter. Being never more than 3 miles from shore the sea and its moods govern life ashore. The wealth and change that oil has brought to the isles I expect is a mixed blessing. The place has history dating back 1000’s of years BC but has also entered the modern age with helicopters, planes, and internet.
The series books and this tour follow the seasons and begin with winter which takes up a third of the text. It is pointed out that books 5-8 follow earth, air, water fire.
Spring receives only passing mention. Sheep crop grass pulling the shoots out of the soil by the roots hence Spring flowers flourish only in areas inaccessible to sheep and no young trees survive. At this Latitude Spring is very late and often shattered by cold spells. It’s arrival is marked by the birdlife that returns. Hummingbirds fail to get a mention.
Summer is marked by nearly 19 hours of sun at mid-June with cold nights and fog. Fall rounds out the year and with few trees falling leaves are not a factor. What is apparent is the degree to which the author has become involved in the life of the isles.
In e-book form the pictures can be enlarged.
The series books and this tour follow the seasons and begin with winter which takes up a third of the text. It is pointed out that books 5-8 follow earth, air, water fire.
Spring receives only passing mention. Sheep crop grass pulling the shoots out of the soil by the roots hence Spring flowers flourish only in areas inaccessible to sheep and no young trees survive. At this Latitude Spring is very late and often shattered by cold spells. It’s arrival is marked by the birdlife that returns. Hummingbirds fail to get a mention.
Summer is marked by nearly 19 hours of sun at mid-June with cold nights and fog. Fall rounds out the year and with few trees falling leaves are not a factor. What is apparent is the degree to which the author has become involved in the life of the isles.
In e-book form the pictures can be enlarged.
March 11, 2023
I've been listening to the Shetland series by Ann Cleeves and the locations she describes in the Shetlands are as vivid as her human characters. I wanted to learn more about the Shetlands and discovered this book. Now I want to visit the islands. The landscape, flora, fauna, and culture are explored with abundant illustrations. I read this book on my Kindle so the illustrations were hard to see, especially the map at the end, but regardless, a great read. Highly recommended to anyone who has read her mystery series (which you should read if you haven't yet)
April 14, 2023
In my home there is a collection of books about Shetland, there is always room for another!
This particular book came to me for my anniversary in 2022. I have poured over it several times by now, it has amazing, striking photographs and a narrative that one can enjoy & learn from.
I’m quite excited for this beautiful book about one of my favorite places to have found it’s way to me.
This particular book came to me for my anniversary in 2022. I have poured over it several times by now, it has amazing, striking photographs and a narrative that one can enjoy & learn from.
I’m quite excited for this beautiful book about one of my favorite places to have found it’s way to me.
January 18, 2020
Have you read Ann Cleeves’ haunting mystery novels set in the Shetland Islands or have you seen the BBC show of the same name? This gorgeous book of photography is Ann Cleeves’ love letter to the Shetland Islands where, as a young woman, she worked in an ornithology science group on one of the islands of the archipelago. She so obviously fell in love with the birds and the sheep and the wool and the yarn in this wind-swept mosaic of land and sea. This book exposes the link between the real places of Shetland and each of her mysteries set in this land. The photos are spectacular. And if you love her books or the BBC production “Shetland”, this treasure is not to be missed!
October 31, 2020
3,5 stars
August 29, 2022
Remote and rugged, the Shetlands have a unique heritage. Accompanied by stunning photographs and some authentic Shetland poetry, Cleeves' guide to the islands is a delight.
February 27, 2016
The Real Shetland
I wish I had had this book (it wasn't published yet) before I read all 6 Shetland books. Still, it was wonderful to bring a dimension, particularly pictorial, to the Shetland Archipelago - particularly impactful if read on a color device. The photographs add so much to the written word. It is clear that Cleeves loves Shetland and has had a long and meaningful relationship with both the people and the place!
I wish I had had this book (it wasn't published yet) before I read all 6 Shetland books. Still, it was wonderful to bring a dimension, particularly pictorial, to the Shetland Archipelago - particularly impactful if read on a color device. The photographs add so much to the written word. It is clear that Cleeves loves Shetland and has had a long and meaningful relationship with both the people and the place!
July 20, 2016
This is a really beautiful coffee table style book full of lovely photos of the Shetland Islands. I admit that with books like this, I usually just look at the pictures and read the captions. In this case I read the entire text from beginning to end. Ann Cleeves writes about Shetland with clear love and affection, talking about the land and wildlife, as well as the people and places, with some tidbits about her books and the BBC TV series thrown in as well.
A really, really lovely book.
A really, really lovely book.
May 31, 2016
Great pictures and overview of the islands.
August 1, 2016
I enjoyed learning more about Shetland and seeing the photographs of this unusual place. Nice supplement to the books and TV series based on Ann Cleeves mysteries set in Shetland.
October 10, 2019
"In Shetland, the weather matters. Everyone knows which way the wind is blowing. In this book I hope to take you on a journey through a year in the life of the islands. You'll meet Shetland's people, celebrate its festivals and see how the flora and fauna change with the seasons. By the end I hope you'll understand why the place means so much to me."
~~back cover
"Ann Cleeve's bestselling series of crime novels featuring Detective Jimmy Perez, and now also adapted for a major BBC television series, is inspired by the place where the stories are set: Shetland.
"An archipelago of more than a hundred islands, Shetland is one of the most remote areas in the United Kingdom. Its fifteen hundred miles of shore mean that wherever one stands, there is a view of the sea. It has sheltered voes* and beaches, and dramatically exposed cliffs, lush meadows full of wild flowers in the summer and bleak hilltops where only the hardiest of plants will grow. It is a place where traditions are valued and celebrated, but new technologies and ways of working are also embraced.
"In this gloriously illustrated companion to her novels, Ann Cleeves takes readers through a year on Shetland, learning about its past, meeting its people, celebrating its festivals and seeing how the flora and fauna of the islands change with the seasons. From the drama of the Viking fire festival of Up Helly Aa in winter to the piercing blue and hot pink of the cliff-top flowers in spring, and from the long, white night of midsummer to the fierce gales and high tide of autumn. Shetland is vividly captured in all its bleak and special beauty.
~~front flap
A glorious book! Incredible photos, and text lovingly written by a "smoothmoother" (soothmoother = Shetland for incomer), the main Shetland islands are presented through all the seasons (and the author explains that she wrote the Shetland series of books based on the seasons, thoughtfully done), as well as some of her ideas that became plots for the books. This is a coffee table book, but also a very personal look at the diversity and beauty of the islands.
*Voe definition: an inlet or narrow bay of the Orkney and Shetland islands.
~~back cover
"Ann Cleeve's bestselling series of crime novels featuring Detective Jimmy Perez, and now also adapted for a major BBC television series, is inspired by the place where the stories are set: Shetland.
"An archipelago of more than a hundred islands, Shetland is one of the most remote areas in the United Kingdom. Its fifteen hundred miles of shore mean that wherever one stands, there is a view of the sea. It has sheltered voes* and beaches, and dramatically exposed cliffs, lush meadows full of wild flowers in the summer and bleak hilltops where only the hardiest of plants will grow. It is a place where traditions are valued and celebrated, but new technologies and ways of working are also embraced.
"In this gloriously illustrated companion to her novels, Ann Cleeves takes readers through a year on Shetland, learning about its past, meeting its people, celebrating its festivals and seeing how the flora and fauna of the islands change with the seasons. From the drama of the Viking fire festival of Up Helly Aa in winter to the piercing blue and hot pink of the cliff-top flowers in spring, and from the long, white night of midsummer to the fierce gales and high tide of autumn. Shetland is vividly captured in all its bleak and special beauty.
~~front flap
A glorious book! Incredible photos, and text lovingly written by a "smoothmoother" (soothmoother = Shetland for incomer), the main Shetland islands are presented through all the seasons (and the author explains that she wrote the Shetland series of books based on the seasons, thoughtfully done), as well as some of her ideas that became plots for the books. This is a coffee table book, but also a very personal look at the diversity and beauty of the islands.
*Voe definition: an inlet or narrow bay of the Orkney and Shetland islands.
August 3, 2018
A good and substantial read with fabulous photos. I’d have liked a bit more about Shetland crafts - but that isn’t something the book promised. It provides interesting background to Ann Cleeves’ Shetland novels, most of which I have not yet read, and the television series, which I have followed.
Shetland is about the only place that would be on my travel bucket list were I to have one. This is a great background to the landscape, culture and history of the islands, as well as to how and why a writer chooses them as a setting.
Organising the book around the four seasons was a great idea in such a landscape, where the work and social cycle is governed so strongly by weather. It captures the substantial changes in landscape and activity, but is also really helpful for planning a visit.
Now to read the novels.
Shetland is about the only place that would be on my travel bucket list were I to have one. This is a great background to the landscape, culture and history of the islands, as well as to how and why a writer chooses them as a setting.
Organising the book around the four seasons was a great idea in such a landscape, where the work and social cycle is governed so strongly by weather. It captures the substantial changes in landscape and activity, but is also really helpful for planning a visit.
Now to read the novels.
October 10, 2017
This book is a fabulous companion to the Jimmy Perez series. As I read the novels, I wanted to know where the cities and land marks were. I constantly had google maps open to get perspective of where Lerwick, Sumburg, Brae and other places were on the Shetland Iles. This pictorial guide provides a view of Shetland in all four seasons. The photographs are marvelous and capture the rugged beauty of the United Kingdom's farthest inhabitants.
I highly recommend checking this out from your local library to read Ann Cleeves description of beloved Shetland.
I highly recommend checking this out from your local library to read Ann Cleeves description of beloved Shetland.
January 15, 2018
Even if you haven't read any of her books or seen the BBC/Netflix series, this is a fun and beautiful book. It's barely a companion to her fictional story, mostly just jumping off points. Beautiful pictures (although many are stock photos) and some fun stories of Shetland. I was surprised she was not a native of Shetland. We are thinking of a vacation to Scotland and Shetland, this was great for whetting the appetite. Shetland reminds me of Newfoundland, up north island that has such distinctive culture.
March 12, 2019
I waited for this as a present having adored the Shetland novels and maybe the anticipation is why I didn't give a 4 or 5 star. While giving a good review of the islands, for me it lacked the glorious writing of the novels and instead was a little too short-sentence-factual. It may put off the non-novel readers with its references back to plots and scenes, but gain it may draw in a new audience. Despite my view on the writing the photography was often spectacular. Sad to have finished this in the week that the Fair Isle bird sanctuary burned down.
December 31, 2019
This beautifully illustrated book is a companion piece to the crime novels of Ann Cleeves which feature Detective Jimmy Perez and are set on the Shetland Islands. Following the events of a year on the islands this book looks at the stunning landscape of coves, beaches and cliffs, the sea birds and marine mammals that find their homes there and the people and festivals that make Shetland a star tourist attraction. Recommended reading for anyone who has visited the islands, is planning to visit them or just dreams about it.
February 2, 2023
Quite beautiful and thorough as she talks through the seasons including snippets of her books throughout. I've been a fan of her Shetland series for several years (and Vera too, but less so) so going then into that was interesting.
At first I was annoyed there wasn't a map, but found it in the end. I wish there had been mention of it, or it was easier to find. It was fun to use Google Earth to find the places though. The photographs are excellent and mention of festivals and food and music and culture all make it come alive.
At first I was annoyed there wasn't a map, but found it in the end. I wish there had been mention of it, or it was easier to find. It was fun to use Google Earth to find the places though. The photographs are excellent and mention of festivals and food and music and culture all make it come alive.
June 21, 2017
Read in preparation for a trip to Shetland & it was a wonderful guide to these beautiful islands. Like Anne Cleeves, I have fallen in love with the Shetland Isles & wish I could move there tomorrow. As an added bonus they were filming the new series of Shetland while we were there, which is based on Anne Cleeves books, & Douglas Henshall came in for a meal at the same pub I was at - I was so excited to see Jimmy Perez in the flesh!!
April 13, 2024
Wonderful blend of photography, poetry and prose
This book was lovely to read and helpful in understanding the settings for the Shetland TV series. It also seems to me that the Shetland people have great respect for their history and for their own place in Shetland history. It would be interesting to know how visitors to Shetland feel when they return to their own environments if they feel differently about modern life. Very interesting read.
This book was lovely to read and helpful in understanding the settings for the Shetland TV series. It also seems to me that the Shetland people have great respect for their history and for their own place in Shetland history. It would be interesting to know how visitors to Shetland feel when they return to their own environments if they feel differently about modern life. Very interesting read.
August 31, 2017
A lovely (quick unfortunately) informative read of daily life in The Shetland Isle and Fair Isle. Spent all evening mooning over the pictures. Particularly poignant for me as this day one year ago I started out on my journey someway around Scotland. Missed out on lots and this made me more determined to see the NC 500 and the Orkney and Shetland Isles next time.
February 23, 2018
Not really what I was anticipating. This is more a documentary of the inspiration and background of the series. As it was the first that I picked up and was expecting an actual novel was a bit disappointed - but actually gives a better perspective to enjoy the books and fleshes out the characters even more. I found it really interesting.
September 14, 2018
Absolutely beautiful!!! Gorgeous pictures and lots of info about living through the seasons. I was fascinated with the islands even before reading the Jimmy Perez books now even more so! My poor kids got tired of looking at pictures but they're amazing! Fabulous book, would strongly recommend to anyone interested in the area or anyone at all!!!
December 8, 2018
An invitation to visit one of the most interesting places on earth!
Remarkable pictures and texts and an isight into the inspiration this setting gives to a remarkable crime author make this a great read! Descriptions of the wonderful birds that live there and the culture of the Shetlanders make it an even more fun journey.
Remarkable pictures and texts and an isight into the inspiration this setting gives to a remarkable crime author make this a great read! Descriptions of the wonderful birds that live there and the culture of the Shetlanders make it an even more fun journey.
June 28, 2019
This is a stunning book. Full of seasonal facts, festivals and fun that happen on the isles of Shetland. Really informative of the collective islands but also some wee gems from some of the Ann Cleeves Shetland series and where some of the ideas and characters came from. Lots and lots of breathtaking photos of scenery and wildlife. One for your book shelf
August 12, 2021
A wonderful visit to the Shetland Islands
If you have read any of Ann Cleeves 's Shetland series, or her much earlier Palmer-Jones series, then you must read this beautifully illustrated book. She shows you, with striking photographs, the land and people she is writing about and tells you how and why she selected her story lines. It is a must-read for her many Shetland fans.
If you have read any of Ann Cleeves 's Shetland series, or her much earlier Palmer-Jones series, then you must read this beautifully illustrated book. She shows you, with striking photographs, the land and people she is writing about and tells you how and why she selected her story lines. It is a must-read for her many Shetland fans.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews