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News of the Dead
'To tell the story of a country or a continent is surely a great and complex undertaking; but the story of a quiet, unnoticed place where there are few people, fewer memories and almost no reliable records - a place such as Glen Conach - may actually be harder to piece together. The hazier everything becomes, the more whatever facts there are become entangled with myth and legend. . .'
Deep in the mountains of north-east Scotland lies Glen Conach, a place of secrets and memories, fable and history. In particular, it holds the stories of three different eras, separated by centuries yet linked by location, by an ancient manuscript and by echoes that travel across time.
In ancient Pictland, the Christian hermit Conach contemplates God and nature, performs miracles and prepares himself for sacrifice. Long after his death, legends about him are set down by an unknown hand in the Book of Conach.
Generations later, in the early nineteenth century, self-promoting antiquarian Charles Kirkliston Gibb is drawn to the Glen, and into the big house at the heart of its fragile community.
In the present day, young Lachie whispers to Maja of a ghost he thinks he has seen. Reflecting on her long life, Maja believes him, for she is haunted by ghosts of her own.
News of the Dead is a captivating exploration of refuge, retreat and the reception of strangers. It measures the space between the stories people tell of themselves - what they forget and what they invent - and the stories through which they may, or may not, be remembered.
Deep in the mountains of north-east Scotland lies Glen Conach, a place of secrets and memories, fable and history. In particular, it holds the stories of three different eras, separated by centuries yet linked by location, by an ancient manuscript and by echoes that travel across time.
In ancient Pictland, the Christian hermit Conach contemplates God and nature, performs miracles and prepares himself for sacrifice. Long after his death, legends about him are set down by an unknown hand in the Book of Conach.
Generations later, in the early nineteenth century, self-promoting antiquarian Charles Kirkliston Gibb is drawn to the Glen, and into the big house at the heart of its fragile community.
In the present day, young Lachie whispers to Maja of a ghost he thinks he has seen. Reflecting on her long life, Maja believes him, for she is haunted by ghosts of her own.
News of the Dead is a captivating exploration of refuge, retreat and the reception of strangers. It measures the space between the stories people tell of themselves - what they forget and what they invent - and the stories through which they may, or may not, be remembered.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published August 5, 2021
32 people are currently reading
1027 people want to read
About the author
James Robertson
333 books270 followersJames Robertson (born 1958) is a Scottish writer who grew up in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire. He is the author of several short story and poetry collections, and has published four novels: The Fanatic, Joseph Knight, The Testament of Gideon Mack, and And the Land Lay Still. Joseph Knight was named both the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year and the Saltire Society Book of the Year in 2003/04. The Testament of Gideon Mack was long-listed for the 2006 Man Booker Prize. And the Land Lay Still was awarded the Saltire Society Book of the Year Award in 2010. Robertson has also established an independent publishing imprint called Kettillonia, which produces occasional pamphlets and books of poetry and short prose, and he is a co-founder and the general editor of the Scots language imprint Itchy Coo, which produces books in Scots for children and young people. He lives in rural Angus.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
November 20, 2022
I love James Robertson's writing. He could write a four-volume 'History of Paperclips in Southern Kazakhstan' and it would still be fantastic.
That said, I do love a paperclip...
That said, I do love a paperclip...
June 17, 2022
Winner of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2022
My fourth Robertson novel in three months, this is his most recent book. Like The Testament of Gideon Mack, its structure is a mixture of supposed found documents and straighter narration, and like To Be Continued... it has a somewhat jumbled non-linear structure, but this one is rather more ambitious, with three separate strands in three millenia, linked by a common setting.
Glen Conach is a fictional Scottish glen that connects the south Cairngorms with the Angus plain, so a composite of several real places. The story is entirely fictional, but is partly about the nature of history and the way it is preserved selectively and often distorted. The oldest strand concerns the Conach whose name the glen takes, a hermit in the Pictish dark ages who is the subject of the Book of Conach.
The only copy of this book was in the laird's library until it was destroyed by fire in the mid 19th century. The second strand of the book, mostly set in 1809, is an unreliable narration by Charles Kirklinton Gibb, a young aspiring antiquarian of very limited means who persuades the laird to allow him to stay in the big house in the glen while he translated the Book. He delays finishing the work in order to lengthen his visit, and becomes involved with Jessie, the laird's daughter, who persuades him to allow her to incorporate stories from the local oral tradition in his translation. From time to time excerpts from the Book in this translated version form chapters of the story.
The third strand is contemporary, and its importance to the story beyond linking the historical fragments only becomes clear in the final and most moving part of the book, in which the oldest resident of the glen, the 80 year old Maja, who has spent most of her life in the glen, writes a long letter to her 8 year old friend Lachie, the current laird's son, because she can't talk to him in Covid lockdown and fears he will never hear her story of how she came to be there, a story that has strong contemporary resonance and power.
The whole thing works rather better than that description would suggest, and my respect for Robertson's ability as a storyteller is still growing.
My fourth Robertson novel in three months, this is his most recent book. Like The Testament of Gideon Mack, its structure is a mixture of supposed found documents and straighter narration, and like To Be Continued... it has a somewhat jumbled non-linear structure, but this one is rather more ambitious, with three separate strands in three millenia, linked by a common setting.
Glen Conach is a fictional Scottish glen that connects the south Cairngorms with the Angus plain, so a composite of several real places. The story is entirely fictional, but is partly about the nature of history and the way it is preserved selectively and often distorted. The oldest strand concerns the Conach whose name the glen takes, a hermit in the Pictish dark ages who is the subject of the Book of Conach.
The only copy of this book was in the laird's library until it was destroyed by fire in the mid 19th century. The second strand of the book, mostly set in 1809, is an unreliable narration by Charles Kirklinton Gibb, a young aspiring antiquarian of very limited means who persuades the laird to allow him to stay in the big house in the glen while he translated the Book. He delays finishing the work in order to lengthen his visit, and becomes involved with Jessie, the laird's daughter, who persuades him to allow her to incorporate stories from the local oral tradition in his translation. From time to time excerpts from the Book in this translated version form chapters of the story.
The third strand is contemporary, and its importance to the story beyond linking the historical fragments only becomes clear in the final and most moving part of the book, in which the oldest resident of the glen, the 80 year old Maja, who has spent most of her life in the glen, writes a long letter to her 8 year old friend Lachie, the current laird's son, because she can't talk to him in Covid lockdown and fears he will never hear her story of how she came to be there, a story that has strong contemporary resonance and power.
The whole thing works rather better than that description would suggest, and my respect for Robertson's ability as a storyteller is still growing.
September 15, 2022
James Robinsons historischer Roman ist aus drei verschiedenen Erzählperspektiven verfasst. In der Gegenwart erzählt uns Maja, die älteste Bewohnerin eines fiktiven schottischen Tals namens Glen Conach, von ihren Begegnungen mit Lachie, einem Jungen, der glaubt, immer wieder einen Geist zu sehen, von ihrem Wissen über den Einsiedler Conach, der in früheren Zeiten in dem Tal lebte, und schließlich auch von der Geschichte eines stummen Mädchens, das kurz nach dem Krieg im Tal auftauchte. Tagebucheinträge des Antiquars Charles Kirkliston Gibb berichten von dessen im Tal im frühen 19. Jahrhundert zu dem Zweck, das „Book of Conach“, ein altes Manuskript über das Leben des „Beinahe-Heiligen“ Conach zu transkribieren. Unterkunft findet er bei dem lokalen Laird und seiner Familie. In einer dritten Erzählperspektive lesen bzw. hören wir den Wortlaut saglichen Manuskripts, das in einer entsprechend sagenartigen Form verfasst ist. Diese drei Perspektiven machen den Roman zu einem sehr ungewöhnlichen und originellen historischen Roman. Vor allem der Bericht von Gibb hat dabei seine Längen, ich möchte ihn nicht langweilig nennen, aber richtig fesseln konnte mich die Geschichte nicht. Was mich schließlich doch noch veranlasst hat, dem Buch vier statt drei Sterne zu geben, war der letzte Teil, in dem Maja von „The Dumb Girl“ berichtet, und ganz besonders die mitreißende Performance der Erzählerin Sheila Reid, die für ein außergewöhnliches Hörbucherlebnis sorgt. Die beiden anderen Perspektiven werden von David Monteath und David Rintould gesprochen, die ihren Job ebenfalls sehr gut machen. Den Twist gegen Ende habe ich relativ früh vorhergesehen. Insgesamt erhalten wir in dem Buch ein sehr schönes Panorama eines einsamen schottischen Tals und seiner Geschichte und seiner Bedeutung für seine Bewohner.
June 17, 2022
I loved this. It's a complicated, strange and wonderful book, weaving multiple narratives of past and present together, exploring religion, place, war and conflict, history and storytelling and so much more. I'd highly recommend.
June 15, 2024
A hard book to review and so I hesitate. I bought this while in Edinburgh and thought it would give me a feeling of being back in all that green beauty once home. Alas, what started off so well became mostly a slog but I did manage to finish. The beginning was wonderful and the end somewhat a relief and well done, it was all in between that was difficult.
This book was the 2022 winner of the Walter Scott prize for historical fiction which I thought meant it was a good read. Interesting yes but not much fun. It has three points of view and separate time lines. The earliest a historical text of a holy man who first came to an isolated Northern Scottish glen to live and be alone. The 2nd a grifter and a scholar who comes to this still very isolated Scottish glen to study the manuscript of the holy man and 3rd present day healer/witch/seer who is given the diary of the scholar who studied the holy man's manuscript. (the original holy man's manuscript since lost in a fire). Through these people we learn the history and the people who lived in this area and how events in history played out for them.
There were moments when it was good but mostly it seems rather dry to this reader. Some moments of drama but too little to move it about 3 stars.
This book was the 2022 winner of the Walter Scott prize for historical fiction which I thought meant it was a good read. Interesting yes but not much fun. It has three points of view and separate time lines. The earliest a historical text of a holy man who first came to an isolated Northern Scottish glen to live and be alone. The 2nd a grifter and a scholar who comes to this still very isolated Scottish glen to study the manuscript of the holy man and 3rd present day healer/witch/seer who is given the diary of the scholar who studied the holy man's manuscript. (the original holy man's manuscript since lost in a fire). Through these people we learn the history and the people who lived in this area and how events in history played out for them.
There were moments when it was good but mostly it seems rather dry to this reader. Some moments of drama but too little to move it about 3 stars.
August 26, 2023
As slow-paced as the glacially-formed landscape it describes. Beautifully written, although for a long time the story kindles rather than bursting into life. Covering such a vast time frame and questioning the truth of mythology, it really came to life for me in the final third, making it a more than worthwhile read.
August 8, 2022
The echoes of Glen Conach.
Glen Conach is a fictional place, a composite of several real places, connecting the south Cairngorms with the Angus Plain. It is the perfect setting for three stories, separated by centuries but linked by their location, and an ancient manuscript.
'To tell the story of a country or a continent is surely a great and complex undertaking; but the story of a quiet, unnoticed place where there are few people, fewer memories and almost no reliable records - a place such as Glen Conach - may actually be harder to piece together. The hazier everything becomes, the more whatever facts there are become entangled with myth and legend. . .'
The first of these stories is of the Christian hermit Conach. In ancient Pictland, Conach contemplates God and nature. For a while he is accompanied by Talorg who serves him. Conach performs miracles and prepares himself for sacrifice. And after his death, legends about him are written by an anonymous person in the Book of Conach.
The only copy of this book is kept in the library of the laird of Glen Conach, until it is destroyed by fire centuries later. Excerpts from the translated version of the book are included within the novel.
‘Conach told Talorg that ten years was a long time to a youth, but little more than a short sleep to an older man, and less than the blink on an eye to God’
In the early nineteenth century, self-promoting antiquarian Charles Kirkliston Gibb has himself invited to Glen Conach, to the big house where the laird, his lady and daughter live. Gibb undertakes to translate the Book of Conach. It is in Gibb’s interest to prolong the translation for as long as possible: he has nowhere else to stay. And in time he becomes involved with Jessamine, the laird’s daughter. Jessamine convinces Gibb to include some stories from the local oral tradition.
And, in the present day, eight-year-old Lachie tells his elderly neighbour Maja of a ghost he thinks he has seen. Maja believes him: she has ghosts of her own as we learn towards the end of this novel. In the middle of a pandemic lockdown, Maja writes Lachie a long letter, telling him how she came to live at Glen Conach.
What a marvellous novel this is. Three different time periods mostly presented to us though the Book of Conach, the journal of Gibb, and Maja’s letter. Each have found refuge in Glen Conach, each is known to us through stories presented. And each story is incomplete. What do we really know about Conach? How much can we rely on Gibb’s incomplete journal? And, while Maja is still alive, her own early childhood is lost to her.
‘One day you will wake up and it will be the last day of your life. You may know this or you may not.’
Highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Glen Conach is a fictional place, a composite of several real places, connecting the south Cairngorms with the Angus Plain. It is the perfect setting for three stories, separated by centuries but linked by their location, and an ancient manuscript.
'To tell the story of a country or a continent is surely a great and complex undertaking; but the story of a quiet, unnoticed place where there are few people, fewer memories and almost no reliable records - a place such as Glen Conach - may actually be harder to piece together. The hazier everything becomes, the more whatever facts there are become entangled with myth and legend. . .'
The first of these stories is of the Christian hermit Conach. In ancient Pictland, Conach contemplates God and nature. For a while he is accompanied by Talorg who serves him. Conach performs miracles and prepares himself for sacrifice. And after his death, legends about him are written by an anonymous person in the Book of Conach.
The only copy of this book is kept in the library of the laird of Glen Conach, until it is destroyed by fire centuries later. Excerpts from the translated version of the book are included within the novel.
‘Conach told Talorg that ten years was a long time to a youth, but little more than a short sleep to an older man, and less than the blink on an eye to God’
In the early nineteenth century, self-promoting antiquarian Charles Kirkliston Gibb has himself invited to Glen Conach, to the big house where the laird, his lady and daughter live. Gibb undertakes to translate the Book of Conach. It is in Gibb’s interest to prolong the translation for as long as possible: he has nowhere else to stay. And in time he becomes involved with Jessamine, the laird’s daughter. Jessamine convinces Gibb to include some stories from the local oral tradition.
And, in the present day, eight-year-old Lachie tells his elderly neighbour Maja of a ghost he thinks he has seen. Maja believes him: she has ghosts of her own as we learn towards the end of this novel. In the middle of a pandemic lockdown, Maja writes Lachie a long letter, telling him how she came to live at Glen Conach.
What a marvellous novel this is. Three different time periods mostly presented to us though the Book of Conach, the journal of Gibb, and Maja’s letter. Each have found refuge in Glen Conach, each is known to us through stories presented. And each story is incomplete. What do we really know about Conach? How much can we rely on Gibb’s incomplete journal? And, while Maja is still alive, her own early childhood is lost to her.
‘One day you will wake up and it will be the last day of your life. You may know this or you may not.’
Highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
May 11, 2023
Bonnie storytelling, ken.
June 24, 2022
News of the Dead is this year’s winner of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.
Because News of the Dead moves frequently between three different storylines, there is a danger of it feeling like three books squeezed into one. However, the author manages to create sufficient connections between the three to make it a cohesive whole, although the storyline set in the present day feels the least connected. Having said that, Maja’s story, when it is finally revealed near the end of the book, I found the most compelling and I think in expanded form would have made a fine novel in itself.
For me the character who leapt off the page was Charles Kirkliston Gibb. He’s an unapologetic rogue and chancer, admitting ‘From the age of ten my life has been an unbroken campaign of not being found out’, and happy to describe himself as ‘a kind of intellectual vagabond’. His journal provides an insight into his work of transcribing and translating the Book of Conach, his desire to string this out for as long as possible in order to keep a comfortable roof over his head and details of life in the ‘Big House’, the home of Lord and Lady Glen Conach, and their daughter, Jessie. For Charles, his journal also acts as documentary proof of his existence, even if not everything in it is necessarily true.
Storytelling is a pervading theme of the book, whether that’s individuals’ own personal histories – the stories they tell about themselves – or how they are remembered by others. The book also explores the notion of what is true and what is invention, and how easy (or difficult) it is to tell the difference. Since the Book of Conach was later destroyed in a fire along with Charles Gibb’s transcription, only his translation (which became a joint endeavour with Jessie) remains. But who is to say that translation was faithful? After all, as Jessie asks at one point, ‘Do you think history must always be duller than fiction?’
News of the Dead is certainly far from dull and the author manages to pull off several different styles, including passages in Scots dialect for the stories told by the irrepressible and accommodating Geordie Kemp, who never likes to disappoint a listener.
The author has explained how he sought to make Glen Conach, although an invented location, feel as real as possible. Although from the outside it might appear isolated and remote, its inhabitants have no reason to leave. This is neatly mirrored by the contemporary story being set during the Covid pandemic so Glen Conach’s residents are unable to leave even if they wanted to. Harking back to earlier days, they must rely on the support of their little community for their needs.
News of the Dead is my first experience of the writing of James Robertson but it has made me keen to search out his other books. It’s an example of why I look forward to the announcement of the Walter Scott Prize longlist every year because it invariably introduces me to authors and books I would otherwise never have come across.
Because News of the Dead moves frequently between three different storylines, there is a danger of it feeling like three books squeezed into one. However, the author manages to create sufficient connections between the three to make it a cohesive whole, although the storyline set in the present day feels the least connected. Having said that, Maja’s story, when it is finally revealed near the end of the book, I found the most compelling and I think in expanded form would have made a fine novel in itself.
For me the character who leapt off the page was Charles Kirkliston Gibb. He’s an unapologetic rogue and chancer, admitting ‘From the age of ten my life has been an unbroken campaign of not being found out’, and happy to describe himself as ‘a kind of intellectual vagabond’. His journal provides an insight into his work of transcribing and translating the Book of Conach, his desire to string this out for as long as possible in order to keep a comfortable roof over his head and details of life in the ‘Big House’, the home of Lord and Lady Glen Conach, and their daughter, Jessie. For Charles, his journal also acts as documentary proof of his existence, even if not everything in it is necessarily true.
Storytelling is a pervading theme of the book, whether that’s individuals’ own personal histories – the stories they tell about themselves – or how they are remembered by others. The book also explores the notion of what is true and what is invention, and how easy (or difficult) it is to tell the difference. Since the Book of Conach was later destroyed in a fire along with Charles Gibb’s transcription, only his translation (which became a joint endeavour with Jessie) remains. But who is to say that translation was faithful? After all, as Jessie asks at one point, ‘Do you think history must always be duller than fiction?’
News of the Dead is certainly far from dull and the author manages to pull off several different styles, including passages in Scots dialect for the stories told by the irrepressible and accommodating Geordie Kemp, who never likes to disappoint a listener.
The author has explained how he sought to make Glen Conach, although an invented location, feel as real as possible. Although from the outside it might appear isolated and remote, its inhabitants have no reason to leave. This is neatly mirrored by the contemporary story being set during the Covid pandemic so Glen Conach’s residents are unable to leave even if they wanted to. Harking back to earlier days, they must rely on the support of their little community for their needs.
News of the Dead is my first experience of the writing of James Robertson but it has made me keen to search out his other books. It’s an example of why I look forward to the announcement of the Walter Scott Prize longlist every year because it invariably introduces me to authors and books I would otherwise never have come across.
August 7, 2021
An extraordinary tale of what it means to be human; who we are, the sum of our parts and the stories we tell each other about the lives, lands and journeys we inhabit. And crucially how we communicate these stories. Spanning three generations, News Of The Dead is at times philosophical, at other times genuinely emotional, and always in command of the universal message it has to convey. This is a truly excellent novel that also serves as a love letter to the glory of the Angus countryside. One that will linger for some time to come. Superb.
September 9, 2021
James Robertson is the quintessential storyteller. It is easy to imagine a gathering around the fire and the audience being spellbound by the stories that he tells. News of the Dead is within that storytelling tradition stretching back thousands of years. It is the story of Glen Conach as told to Lachie by Maya, to Maya by Geordie, and by a host of others stretching back to Conach arriving in the glen named after him and the stories that gathered around Conach as told by Talorg and passed on to future generations.
These stories are gathered by an anonymous monk and written into a book which remains in the glen, first in the abbey and then, following the reformation, in the big house where it is kept in the library by the laird and his family. Of course, the monk wrote in Latin and this is the first translation because the stories would have been told in Gaelic. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Charles Gibb arrives at Glen Conach House to produce a copy of the Latin and to translate the book into English and to provide himself with free board and accommodation for as long as he can stretch it out. It is through Gibb that we meet the inhabitants of the Glen, the Laird and his wife, their daughter Jessamyne, the minister, the teacher, the Laird’s mother and many others. We do not meet Sandy, the laird’s son, because he is a captain in the army, involved in the Napoleonic War. He has just survived the Retreat to Corunna when this part of the story begins.
But the story really starts with Lachie, the eight-year-old son of the present day laid telling Maya, the oldest inhabitant of the glen, that he has seen the ghost of the “dumb girl”. This ghost is a newcomer to the glen. She is not part of Conach’s story. Her tory is important and will be woven into the tale of Glen Conach, and will become part of its history.
Robertson is telling us many things as he weaves his tale round the various inhabitants of the glen over the last thousand or so years. He is telling us that the oral tradition is important. Of course, some details have been forgotten, some details embellished and some invented. The mythology of our past forms us as much as the actual events. We were not witnesses of the actual events. We have to rely on documents which may or may not be accurate. Oral accounts can be lost, unless they are recorded at which point, they become a document.
The importance of mythology is shown by the Glassford Family portrait. The story is that the Glassford were so embarrassed by the presence of a black slave boy in a family portrait that they had him painted out. An examination of the portrait for restoration purposes showed that e had been covered up by a layer of dirt. But the story has now entered the popular memory and as even appeared in academic works. It is not correct, but it is part of the legend. One of the things that Robertson is telling us is that legends are an important part of our understanding of the past.
Another is the importance of storytelling itself. It is ow we learn empathy. It is how we learn to distinguish between right and wrong. It is how we learn how to behave. History is essentially storytelling. All the great religions centre around the stories that they tell, whether it is Moses parting the Red Sea, the Good Samaritan, the flight from Mecca or the Mahabharata. It is how we teach the next generation the essentials of our beliefs. It is how we teach them what is safe and wat is not.
James Robertson weaves these and other themes into a beautifully written story about a small glen in the wilds of Scotland. It is essential reading.
These stories are gathered by an anonymous monk and written into a book which remains in the glen, first in the abbey and then, following the reformation, in the big house where it is kept in the library by the laird and his family. Of course, the monk wrote in Latin and this is the first translation because the stories would have been told in Gaelic. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Charles Gibb arrives at Glen Conach House to produce a copy of the Latin and to translate the book into English and to provide himself with free board and accommodation for as long as he can stretch it out. It is through Gibb that we meet the inhabitants of the Glen, the Laird and his wife, their daughter Jessamyne, the minister, the teacher, the Laird’s mother and many others. We do not meet Sandy, the laird’s son, because he is a captain in the army, involved in the Napoleonic War. He has just survived the Retreat to Corunna when this part of the story begins.
But the story really starts with Lachie, the eight-year-old son of the present day laid telling Maya, the oldest inhabitant of the glen, that he has seen the ghost of the “dumb girl”. This ghost is a newcomer to the glen. She is not part of Conach’s story. Her tory is important and will be woven into the tale of Glen Conach, and will become part of its history.
Robertson is telling us many things as he weaves his tale round the various inhabitants of the glen over the last thousand or so years. He is telling us that the oral tradition is important. Of course, some details have been forgotten, some details embellished and some invented. The mythology of our past forms us as much as the actual events. We were not witnesses of the actual events. We have to rely on documents which may or may not be accurate. Oral accounts can be lost, unless they are recorded at which point, they become a document.
The importance of mythology is shown by the Glassford Family portrait. The story is that the Glassford were so embarrassed by the presence of a black slave boy in a family portrait that they had him painted out. An examination of the portrait for restoration purposes showed that e had been covered up by a layer of dirt. But the story has now entered the popular memory and as even appeared in academic works. It is not correct, but it is part of the legend. One of the things that Robertson is telling us is that legends are an important part of our understanding of the past.
Another is the importance of storytelling itself. It is ow we learn empathy. It is how we learn to distinguish between right and wrong. It is how we learn how to behave. History is essentially storytelling. All the great religions centre around the stories that they tell, whether it is Moses parting the Red Sea, the Good Samaritan, the flight from Mecca or the Mahabharata. It is how we teach the next generation the essentials of our beliefs. It is how we teach them what is safe and wat is not.
James Robertson weaves these and other themes into a beautifully written story about a small glen in the wilds of Scotland. It is essential reading.
October 31, 2021
“I think it’s true for most people that the older they get the more disappointing life becomes. The horizon lowers, possibilities diminish, mind and body protest more when made to work, or simply refuse to work at all. This disappointment is, like physical aches and pains, part of the aging process. I know people much younger than me who feel it, but I don’t. I feel lucky.”
The News of the Dead is a cleverly almost classicesque written piece which is thought provoking and moving. Delving into the people of our past and the stories that are passed down through generations. These stories are the way in which people are remembered for years after they leave this earth. But how much of these stories are true? And as they are passed down throughout the generations and rewritten, how much is added to it by the new narrator of its time.
The book is written from three perspectives and over three timescales; Maja in the current day, William Gibb in the early 1800s and the story of Saint Conach from a monk from ancient Pictish times. As we weave in and out of each of these stories, we are sometimes told the same story a few times from each perspective, showing how much a tale changes each time it is relayed.
Interestingly the book had me thinking about faith also and how it is important especially when faced with the prospect of death or loss. How someone dies two deaths; one when their soul leaves this earth and one when their name is said for the last time. The only way to preserve someone’s legacy is to write it down. To pass on long after even you have left this earth. To ensure you leave your mark in this world.
James Robertson has a beautiful writing style that I haven’t came across in a long time. Each page of the book is quotable and (much like a book of faith) makes you stop and think for a moment before moving on. However, despite this I sometimes felt that it was maybe trying to be a bit too clever which resulted in me finding some parts dragging. I always enjoy character driven books instead of plot driven but even I couldn’t connect fully to the characters and the story.
I think it has had a lasting effect on me though and I will definitely be delving into more of Robertson’s work in the future!
The News of the Dead is a cleverly almost classicesque written piece which is thought provoking and moving. Delving into the people of our past and the stories that are passed down through generations. These stories are the way in which people are remembered for years after they leave this earth. But how much of these stories are true? And as they are passed down throughout the generations and rewritten, how much is added to it by the new narrator of its time.
The book is written from three perspectives and over three timescales; Maja in the current day, William Gibb in the early 1800s and the story of Saint Conach from a monk from ancient Pictish times. As we weave in and out of each of these stories, we are sometimes told the same story a few times from each perspective, showing how much a tale changes each time it is relayed.
Interestingly the book had me thinking about faith also and how it is important especially when faced with the prospect of death or loss. How someone dies two deaths; one when their soul leaves this earth and one when their name is said for the last time. The only way to preserve someone’s legacy is to write it down. To pass on long after even you have left this earth. To ensure you leave your mark in this world.
James Robertson has a beautiful writing style that I haven’t came across in a long time. Each page of the book is quotable and (much like a book of faith) makes you stop and think for a moment before moving on. However, despite this I sometimes felt that it was maybe trying to be a bit too clever which resulted in me finding some parts dragging. I always enjoy character driven books instead of plot driven but even I couldn’t connect fully to the characters and the story.
I think it has had a lasting effect on me though and I will definitely be delving into more of Robertson’s work in the future!
October 29, 2021
There aren't enough stars for this book--it is beautiful, playful and profound. Historical fiction that plays with the idea of history itself.
It’s all about one faraway place, glen conach. And the people in it, real and imagined, living and dead. And how that remote beautiful landscape lives in and changes and even saves the people who dwell in it. . It features diaries and letters and stories and letters and deals with the small dramas of everyday life as well as wars and plagues. With nods to all the greats of Scottish literature (Scott & Spark) but a greatness all of its own.
Robertson is the author of six novels, including the Booker longlisted The Testament of Gideon Mack. History and time are his preoccupations.
These two quotes sum it up: ‘The story of a quiet unnoticed place where there are few people, fewer memories and almost no reliable records - a place such as Glen Conach…when you return to the present it may seem fact and fiction were never that discrete from one another after all.’
and
‘To each and every one and to all creatures of all kinds, a place of refuge and tranquility is assigned; and if that place be found in this life then blessed is the finder, and if not be found then hope itself is the name of it, and the only door that closes upon hope is called death.’
I interview James about his bok in the first episode of The Big Scottish Book Club which you can view on BBC iPlayer or follow this link:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001...
It’s all about one faraway place, glen conach. And the people in it, real and imagined, living and dead. And how that remote beautiful landscape lives in and changes and even saves the people who dwell in it. . It features diaries and letters and stories and letters and deals with the small dramas of everyday life as well as wars and plagues. With nods to all the greats of Scottish literature (Scott & Spark) but a greatness all of its own.
Robertson is the author of six novels, including the Booker longlisted The Testament of Gideon Mack. History and time are his preoccupations.
These two quotes sum it up: ‘The story of a quiet unnoticed place where there are few people, fewer memories and almost no reliable records - a place such as Glen Conach…when you return to the present it may seem fact and fiction were never that discrete from one another after all.’
and
‘To each and every one and to all creatures of all kinds, a place of refuge and tranquility is assigned; and if that place be found in this life then blessed is the finder, and if not be found then hope itself is the name of it, and the only door that closes upon hope is called death.’
I interview James about his bok in the first episode of The Big Scottish Book Club which you can view on BBC iPlayer or follow this link:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001...
July 7, 2022
This book recently won the 2022 Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction. It tells a wonderfully complex story that takes place during 3 different centuries in a very small village in northern Scotland. James Robertson, the author, deftly weaves together three different plotlines from different eras in history. I am giving it 5 stars for his adeptness in combining different plot elements such as an ancient manuscript, a stranger coming to town and secret diaries into one cohesive whole.
Fantastic World Building as he describes the Scottish countryside and different ancient buildings, including an old manor house with well-stocked library. The characters were well drawn and most exhibited both good and bad traits. I am happy to see that Mr. Robertson has written 4 prior novels (several listed for prizes) and look forward to reading them.
Fantastic World Building as he describes the Scottish countryside and different ancient buildings, including an old manor house with well-stocked library. The characters were well drawn and most exhibited both good and bad traits. I am happy to see that Mr. Robertson has written 4 prior novels (several listed for prizes) and look forward to reading them.
April 20, 2022
News of the Dead is another brilliant book from James Robertson. It reminded me in style of The Testament of Gideon Mack with the story presented in different ways by different narrators, all telling their own truths. There are letters, memoirs, journals, academic records, archival transcriptions, simple narration and the translation of The Book of Conach.
“A good story… had to have some element of truth in it, even if he had made it up or stolen it. If it did not have that truth, even if it was the best tale of them all, it would fail.”
This book looks at the ways stories are passed on through generations, how they connect the past and present, how they change and evolve with each retelling. And yet there is still that principle of truth which validates them. James Robertson weaves a compelling story with legends, beliefs and traditions from three different time periods. There was an element of mystery as I wondered what connected the three parts of the story, with Maja’s story from the contemporary strand being particularly intriguing.
This is also a book with a strong sense of place, in this case Glen Conach. Finding your place to belong is a key theme. As Maja says “everyone has a place, a real place or a memory of a place, or a dream of a place.” The use of dialect firmly rooted this book in the Scottish glens. I really enjoyed the use of dialect which appears in some parts of the book though it may pose a challenge to non-Scots. Even I had to look up some words! But don’t let that put you off, as it adds to the richness of the narrative.
News of the Dead is a book which will appeal to anyone who enjoys Scottish fiction and historical fiction. James Robertson is a natural storyteller and surely one of the most gifted of contemporary Scottish novelists.
“A good story… had to have some element of truth in it, even if he had made it up or stolen it. If it did not have that truth, even if it was the best tale of them all, it would fail.”
This book looks at the ways stories are passed on through generations, how they connect the past and present, how they change and evolve with each retelling. And yet there is still that principle of truth which validates them. James Robertson weaves a compelling story with legends, beliefs and traditions from three different time periods. There was an element of mystery as I wondered what connected the three parts of the story, with Maja’s story from the contemporary strand being particularly intriguing.
This is also a book with a strong sense of place, in this case Glen Conach. Finding your place to belong is a key theme. As Maja says “everyone has a place, a real place or a memory of a place, or a dream of a place.” The use of dialect firmly rooted this book in the Scottish glens. I really enjoyed the use of dialect which appears in some parts of the book though it may pose a challenge to non-Scots. Even I had to look up some words! But don’t let that put you off, as it adds to the richness of the narrative.
News of the Dead is a book which will appeal to anyone who enjoys Scottish fiction and historical fiction. James Robertson is a natural storyteller and surely one of the most gifted of contemporary Scottish novelists.
October 14, 2021
Set in the fictional setting of “Glen Conach” in the North East of Scotland, Robertson in his classic style combines three narratives from characters across different centuries, tied together by their connection to the Glen, creating a tale which is steeped in myth, folklore and legend.
The three stories are quite different. In the early Middle Ages in Pictland, there’s the Christian hermit, Conach, whose signs and miracles performed in Glen are made legendary through ancient writings in a text known as “The Book of Conach.” Generations later in the 19th century, an antiquarian called Charles Kirkliston Gibb, is drawn to Glen Conach to transcribe and translate The Book of Conach, and in turn is taken into the grand home of the Baron of Glen Conach and his frenzied household. And then there’s the present-day reflections of Maja, an elderly woman who has lived in the Glen for most of her life and her relationship to a young boy, called Lachie, who claims to have seen a ghost.
Though separated by time, these three stories intersect and entangle to reveal the secrets and mysteries of the Glen and the importance of preserving what’s left of it. I loved reading this!
The three stories are quite different. In the early Middle Ages in Pictland, there’s the Christian hermit, Conach, whose signs and miracles performed in Glen are made legendary through ancient writings in a text known as “The Book of Conach.” Generations later in the 19th century, an antiquarian called Charles Kirkliston Gibb, is drawn to Glen Conach to transcribe and translate The Book of Conach, and in turn is taken into the grand home of the Baron of Glen Conach and his frenzied household. And then there’s the present-day reflections of Maja, an elderly woman who has lived in the Glen for most of her life and her relationship to a young boy, called Lachie, who claims to have seen a ghost.
Though separated by time, these three stories intersect and entangle to reveal the secrets and mysteries of the Glen and the importance of preserving what’s left of it. I loved reading this!
December 19, 2021
Nice novel. Many interesting and moving stories over a long period, centered in a Scottish glen. Not completely clear as to how the stories were linked to tell a larger story, except geographically. Difficult at times to understand the Scotch dialect, but improves with exposure. Seems like nearly every book I’ve read written in the last year or two has to to talk or borderline lecture about climate change or impending ecological disaster— this was mild, but unnecessary and distracting in last two pages of the book.
May 13, 2023
Winner of the 2022 Walter Scott Prize for Historical for fiction, James Robertson's book News of the Dead is an outstanding piece of storytelling. It weaves together three time frames in the one location, a fictional Angus glen. It explores themes of refuge, story and history, the kindness of strangers and Scottish history. In my mind a worthy winner and a book that deserves to have a wider readership.
August 26, 2021
An excellent novel!
September 7, 2021
Lovely atmospheric story beautifully told.
September 12, 2021
My favourite book of the year. A story of our local area that I have longed to hear.
November 26, 2022
One thread of this story brought to mind a part of Cloud Atlas, and while they are very different books, there are other similarities as well.a lovely, quiet book.
November 27, 2022
Whilst I enjoyed the three timelines and the characters I was a bit disappointed that they somehow didn’t pull together more cohesively.
3.5 stars from me
3.5 stars from me
February 3, 2023
I was going to give this three, rounded down from 7 out of 10, but it improved the last fifty pages or so. I mustn't forget that.
I read The Testament if Gideon Mack by this author way back when it came out (2006?); Remember really enjoying it despite some flaws. Haven't even really noticed another book by him since then although there have been one, so when I saw it last year I bought it - then I took it on holiday mid January because it was small enough to fit in hand luggage and it appears I've currently got a lot of hardback books.
I don't see a lot of decent Scottish fiction. I don't know if it's just not there, or I've just not noticed it. You get a few thrillers, and there's been the odd notable one (your Shuggie Bains and My Bloody Projects) but there aren't many. And this is a very Scottish book - in a good way.
Not sure why that matters either but there is a real sense of place to this book. I'd describe it as a set of stories around a fictional, very remote Glen near Forfar, and it's history and legend. And it's also about history, and what that means: what we can read and trust, and what we read and have to decide if we trust or not.
The stories are of a modern day old lady, and how she got there; a three hundred year old diary of a traveller to the glen, and a historical tract about a saint from the Pictish times which said traveller is translating.
I liked that about the book: it's place, and it's description. And I like stories which, without being too prescriptive about it, interlink a few different things. I also like historical fiction.
What would have given it 7 and not 8 out of 10 was it's lack of pace. For a long time nothing much interesting happened. I don't seek great drama, not all the time, but when nothing much changes and you get the idea, it can make a book harder to pick up again, even though I mostly appreciated it - the setting, the odd but endearing diarist of the 1700s.
But it did eventually have a bit of story, and it changed tack enough to retain interest.
On the whole, I'd recommend, even if only because I don't read many books like it and maybe you don't either.
I read The Testament if Gideon Mack by this author way back when it came out (2006?); Remember really enjoying it despite some flaws. Haven't even really noticed another book by him since then although there have been one, so when I saw it last year I bought it - then I took it on holiday mid January because it was small enough to fit in hand luggage and it appears I've currently got a lot of hardback books.
I don't see a lot of decent Scottish fiction. I don't know if it's just not there, or I've just not noticed it. You get a few thrillers, and there's been the odd notable one (your Shuggie Bains and My Bloody Projects) but there aren't many. And this is a very Scottish book - in a good way.
Not sure why that matters either but there is a real sense of place to this book. I'd describe it as a set of stories around a fictional, very remote Glen near Forfar, and it's history and legend. And it's also about history, and what that means: what we can read and trust, and what we read and have to decide if we trust or not.
The stories are of a modern day old lady, and how she got there; a three hundred year old diary of a traveller to the glen, and a historical tract about a saint from the Pictish times which said traveller is translating.
I liked that about the book: it's place, and it's description. And I like stories which, without being too prescriptive about it, interlink a few different things. I also like historical fiction.
What would have given it 7 and not 8 out of 10 was it's lack of pace. For a long time nothing much interesting happened. I don't seek great drama, not all the time, but when nothing much changes and you get the idea, it can make a book harder to pick up again, even though I mostly appreciated it - the setting, the odd but endearing diarist of the 1700s.
But it did eventually have a bit of story, and it changed tack enough to retain interest.
On the whole, I'd recommend, even if only because I don't read many books like it and maybe you don't either.
May 24, 2022
This book is set in one of the Angus glens and tells three different stories set in in different times, one at the time of the arrival of Christianity in Scotland, the second in the early 1800's, and the third in the present day.
As I was reading, I felt that the stories took a long time to get going, and was waiting to see how they were related. They were, however, separate stories but with the link that they all happened in the same glen, and the remoteness of the glen had an influence on each story. The message I took from the book, is that history is made by everyone, not just through official records, but also spoken stories and folklore, and personal diaries and memories. There is no real way of proving which is the correct version, but everyone is involved, and everyone contributes to the history of where they live.
Even though it took me while to get into, this was a very enjoyable book, and one that gets into your head. Well worth a read, as James Robertson really is a great storyteller.
As I was reading, I felt that the stories took a long time to get going, and was waiting to see how they were related. They were, however, separate stories but with the link that they all happened in the same glen, and the remoteness of the glen had an influence on each story. The message I took from the book, is that history is made by everyone, not just through official records, but also spoken stories and folklore, and personal diaries and memories. There is no real way of proving which is the correct version, but everyone is involved, and everyone contributes to the history of where they live.
Even though it took me while to get into, this was a very enjoyable book, and one that gets into your head. Well worth a read, as James Robertson really is a great storyteller.
August 8, 2023
This was a bit of a slog of a read personally.
I have given it three starts
I have given it three stars because it was well written, across all three stories and I found no fault with the writing of the stories. I was just constantly waiting for the point they crossed over, for the point of the three different narratives to appear.
For me, it never came. The only link I could associate was a) the telling of stories and b) the location.
Books like this always make me feel I like I’ve missed some clever intellectual point I’m not enough of a critical reader or ‘literary fiction’ reader to pick up on.
The most enjoyable part of the book was the last 50 or so pages when Maja writes her story for Lachie. The writing seems to come alive at that point so at least the book ended on a high.
I have given it three starts
I have given it three stars because it was well written, across all three stories and I found no fault with the writing of the stories. I was just constantly waiting for the point they crossed over, for the point of the three different narratives to appear.
For me, it never came. The only link I could associate was a) the telling of stories and b) the location.
Books like this always make me feel I like I’ve missed some clever intellectual point I’m not enough of a critical reader or ‘literary fiction’ reader to pick up on.
The most enjoyable part of the book was the last 50 or so pages when Maja writes her story for Lachie. The writing seems to come alive at that point so at least the book ended on a high.
September 16, 2021
This is a beautiful book and I found it more beautiful because of the way it writes about the area where I live. I felt it was different from James Robertson's other books I have read but still held the same themes. It is a book about place and people and what holds people together in the present and through time and it is about stories and how they are tied up with reality. I put it down with tears in my eyes.
September 17, 2021
Such a lovely story , past and present merging and separating , the story of the little girl who arrived as a stowaway and was taken into the heart of a village is deftly unwound. I was fascinated by the force of the narrative and ( I won’t say literally) transported to a different life.
Some of Maja’s phrases will stay with me as will the way this book stepped through time linked by place and myths.
Some of Maja’s phrases will stay with me as will the way this book stepped through time linked by place and myths.
November 13, 2021
For me this felt like three separate books loosely linked together. Two of the three were engaging, the third didn’t really add that much. I felt my enthusiasm for the book rise and fall depending on which storyline was being followed. Overall I felt slightly short-changed by the experience. Some interesting characters and thought provoking ideas (always a good thing) and also the first book I’ve read that incorporated the COVID pandemic in its plot. But overall it just didn’t work for me.
July 13, 2022
4.5 stars
This is an enthralling novel set in three eras and explores the emotion of feeling at home in your life and lifestyle.
It is somewhat literary and this may be a deterrent for some people, but I ask you to keep an open mind. Some of the prose is highly charged and the events are very up to date. It is all very thought provoking and a very good novel overall. A slow read, but one to savour!
This is an enthralling novel set in three eras and explores the emotion of feeling at home in your life and lifestyle.
It is somewhat literary and this may be a deterrent for some people, but I ask you to keep an open mind. Some of the prose is highly charged and the events are very up to date. It is all very thought provoking and a very good novel overall. A slow read, but one to savour!
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