The Wee Mad Road: A Midlife Escape to the Scottish Highlands

by Jack Maloney, Barbara Maloney (Illustrator)

Lovesick sheep, rumors of war, storms at sea, whisky galore - a midlife escape from an 'empty nest' in America to start afresh in the wilds of Scotland. When their children grow up and leave home, authors Jack and Barbara Maloney sell their house in a midwest suburb and run off to the Highlands. Following a one-lane track called ''The Wee Mad Road,'' they discover an isolated remnant of traditional Gaelic culture, peopled by characters as unique and memorable as the surrounding mountains. The Maloneys settle into an old stone cottage and spend two years in repeated collisions with quaint Highland ways. Entries from Barbara's diary detail the realities of village life, while Jack recounts tales of poachers, crofters and lairds in one of mainland Britain's most scenic and isolated corners. The Wee Mad Road is a warm and witty account of two years in the Highlands, with illustrations of everyday life in the wildest reaches of the United Kingdom. It's a 'how to' book for anyone who dreams of escaping the doldrums of suburban midlife and starting over.

Genres: Nonfiction, Scotland, Travel, Memoir

221 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2008

About the author

JACK MALONEY grew up in the tenements of Chicago’s South Side, and earned a journalism degree from the University of Missouri. His career as a freelance writer has taken him to orphanages in Haiti, West African refugee camps, Middle East mosques, Oriental marketplaces and islands in the South Pacific, and his work has won national and international awards. A mountaineer, scuba diver, parachutist and XC ski instructor, Jack has canoed, skied, backpacked and climbed in wilderness areas across North America. He is a dual citizen of the US and Ireland.

THE WEE MAD ROAD is a memoir of three years Jack lived in an isolated village in a Gaelic-speaking region of the Scottish Highlands. The book is co-authored by his wife Barbara, who also did the illustrations of traditional village working life.

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. Not only because it's about living in Scotland but that it is what it really means to move to your dream spot. Just because it's pretty doesn't mean it's easy to live there. And the locals aren't always as thrilled to have you there. Very well written and the pencil drawings added a great deal.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did enjoy reading this, but I kept falling asleep reading it, so......I skimmed the rest and read the last few pages. Brave couple from Minneapolis sell everything and move to a cottage in northern Scotland. They do have some hilarious adventures, such as when a ewe in heat persistently pursues the husband!

[Barbara Vinocur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being of Scottish heritage and traveling around Scotland, including staying in the Highlands, I enjoyed this book. The husband and wife team of Jack and Barbara Maloney wrote about their 2 years living in the northern Highlands and their experiences with the changeable weather, sheep herding and shearing, fishing and evenings at the local pub. And especially their warm and welcoming friendships with the Scottish people.

[John Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming, with forgivable sentimentality. I suppose it describes a snapshot of a particular time, and a fairly short time in the life of a community at that. I did enjoy the fact that although most of it is written by the husband there are regular interjections from the wife's journal to give some variety. I would strongly recommend it to anyone interested in the North West highlands.

[JULIE · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to categorize this book: a travel memoir, perhaps. When Jack and Barbara Maloney were in their 40s, their children grown, they spent two years is a small village in Coigach in the northwest Highlands of Scotland. There they mingled into the community, learning the ways of the people who lived and made their living crofting (tenant farming), fishing, and raising sheep. Along the way they enjoyed the music and storytelling of the fading Gaelic culture. Jack did most of the writing and Barbara illustrated and contributed snippets from her journal.

The story of their time in Coigach was engaging and interesting. (I learned more about the care and feeding of sheep than I ever thought I wanted to know.) How wonderful that they were able to sell their home in Minneapolis and use the proceeds to live in a completely different culture (and time) for two years!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i kind of hated to finish this. have just read it little bits at a time. it's written in little diary-type entries, alternating back and forth between the husband and wife. the husband's profession is writing; the wife's, painting. so she has watercolor and pen and ink illustrations throughout. they moved from minneapolis to the tiny village of Coigach on the northwest coast of scotland, and lived there for 2 years. they took part in all aspects of village life, trying to learn and help with fishing, lambing, and shearing. if you have ever gone on vacation and wished you could just stay, i think you will enjoy this book.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, sweet book which captures the spirit and the experience of living in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands. I enjoyed the characters and descriptions of the remains of a traditional way of life. I appreciated the way in which the book moves through the different seasons, as well as the juxtaposition of the author's stories & thoughts, together with notes from his wife's journal. Aside from those planning a trip to Scotland, it may be of interest to those contemplating a mid-life "break" from one's usual life. What an amazing place to spend a year or three.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Maloneys, a couple in their 40s and recent empty-nesters, sold their Minneapolis home and moved to the Northwest Highlands of Scotland for two years. They fell in love with the Scottish people and landscape. Their writing brings to life the joyful simplicity of a small village and the people who live there.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Midwestern couple abandons their suburban life and takes up residence in a small Highlands village. A charming memory, but probably more meaningful to people who have traveled in Scotland and are familiar with the landscape and the culture. I will say that reading this has COMPLETELY cured me of ever wanting to raise sheep or live in a croft.

[Kathee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable to follow along as a couple takes the opportunity to live in a remote village in the Scotland for almost two years. Interesting reflections on the community and (a now almost lost) way of life and also on the process of becoming an accepted member of that community and not a visitor.

[James Jeffrey]

Delightful account of a middleaged American couple who run away from home to the Highlands for a couple of years. Their adventures of living in the rural vastness of North-west Scotland; sheep, haggis, rain, and fish!

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Wee Mad Road. A heartwarming little book about an American couple who move to the Scottish Highlands to live for two years. Charming stories of the village, the Highlanders and a disappearing way of life. Written in 1982, so the village was even more insulated than it would be today.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've enjoyed this book so much that it is on my "must read annually" list. It always makes me smile.

[Beate Lundstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confirmed in me the desire to escape to England for at least a year, if not forever!