Music in the Dark

by Sally Magnusson

1884. In a tenement room and kitchen in the town of Rutherglen, near Glasgow, a woman with stark injuries to her face and her mind, and a man who has recently arrived from America, spend the night together.

As the night progresses, the couple discover that their past lives were once entwined in ways they hadn't realised, and that they are linked by a shared past; the eviction of Greenyards, Strathcarron in 1854. Separately and together the couple reflect on the shocking brutality of the glen's clearance thirty years earlier, exploring notions of love, commitment, trauma and happiness, and discovering what it means to take care of another person's soul.

A book suffused with poetry and based on truth, Music in the Dark looks with searing honesty at love in older age - its cost and its beauties - whilst shedding light on female resistance during the Highland Clearances, and depicting, with poignant empathy, the long-term physical and mental effects the past can have on us.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Scotland, Fiction, Historical, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Novels

Kindle Edition

First published May 11, 2023

About the author

Sally Magnusson is a Scottish author and broadcaster.

Reviews

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful, moving story of love, trauma and memory. It's at its heart a love story, and quite an unusual one, and I thought it was brilliant.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third novel by Scottish author Sally Magnusson and although I had a few problems with her first two – The Sealwoman’s Gift, the story of an Icelandic woman sold into slavery in Algeria, and The Ninth Child, about the construction of the Loch Katrine Waterworks – I still wanted to read this one because it sounded so interesting.

It begins in 1884 in a tenement in Rutherglen, a town near Glasgow, where the widowed Jamesina Bain is taking in a new lodger. The lodger is a man, newly arrived from America, where he has lived for many years. At first he has no idea who the Widow Bain is, but as he and Jamesina spend more time together, they discover that they have a shared past – they both lived through the forced eviction of Greenyards in Strathcarron.

The eviction was part of the Highland Clearances, the period when landowners in Scotland removed tenants from their estates so the land could be used for more profitable purposes – which, in the case of Greenyards, meant sheep farming. The clearances of Greenyards in 1854 and nearby Glencalvie a few years earlier, were particularly shocking, for reasons I won’t go into here as the novel will probably have more impact if you don’t already know what happened.

Sally Magnusson doesn’t delve too deeply into the politics surrounding the clearances or the reasons behind them – although Jamesina and her friends believe it was due to the Celtic people being considered inferior – and she acknowledges in her author’s note that it’s a very complex subject. Instead, she concentrates on exploring the long-term effects of the clearances, physically, emotionally and mentally, on the evicted people.

The novel is written from the perspectives of both Jamesina and her lodger, moving between the two as well as jumping backwards and forwards in time between 1884 and 1854. This structure is ultimately quite rewarding as things do eventually fall into place and we come to understand what happened during the Greenyards eviction and the sequence of events that sent Jamesina to Rutherglen and her lodger to America. However, it also means that the first half of the novel is slightly confusing and lacks focus, something that isn’t helped by the style in which Jamesina’s sections are written – often descending into a jumble of thoughts, word association and stream of consciousness. There was a reason for that style, which I understood later on, but it didn’t make this an easy book for me to get into.

I found this book very evocative of time and place, whether I was reading about Jamesina’s childhood in Greenyards or her life in the Rutherglen tenement, taking in laundry to earn a living and sleeping in the ‘kitchen bed’ to keep the bedroom available for lodgers. Magnusson also incorporates lots of other interesting issues, such as the healing power of music, the devastating impact of dementia and the joys of education. I found it very sad that the adult Jamesina, who had been such a bright child and was being taught Latin by the local minister, questions the point in being educated if you’re only going to be leading a life of drudgery.

I have deliberately not provided the name of Jamesina’s lodger, as we don’t immediately know who he is or how he fits into her life and I thought I would leave you to make that discovery for yourself. This is a fascinating novel in many ways and I did enjoy it once I got past the halfway point, which is why I don’t like abandoning books too early!

[Molly Cavanagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book. Beautifully written, the way the story moves seamlessly across different decades and from different perspectives, woven together by descriptive but colloquial language drew me in to the book and made me want to take my time over it.
My god, I love a historically accurate piece of fiction that is rooted in many truths and real emotions and yes, tears were shed and I was overcome several times but quite often as a result of happier endings after lifetimes of suffering.

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uuuuhhhh just really didn’t like it. AND I DON’T KNOW WHY. The characters were multi-dimensional, the writing was eloquent, the subject matter was important and clearly very historically accurate…but I just wasn’t engaged. Also, found the narrative really hard to follow in the beginning so that a lot of the back story was lost to me.

[Katrina Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly uplifting and sweet story of a woman who experienced the true events of violence against women during the Highland clearances. The damage and displacement transforms the young, sharp and ambitious young woman. We meet her in later years through the eyes of her new tenant. Their shared past is slowly unveiled, as are the difficulties and losses of her adulthood: far different from the poetry writing, rural idyll of her earliest years.

The comfort and restorative power of love is beautifully told and there were moments of such sweetness, they made me smile.

-Both characters are witty and at times playful.
-The poetry and song feels authentic.
-The scenes of violence is shocking but not over dramatised.
-The history of the clearances is a topic close to the author.
-Multiple POV.
-The psychiatrist friend's letters felt a little contrived but I still liked them.
-Triggers: child loss, grief, violence, abusive marriage, memory loss.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and researched book drawing much deserved attention to an often overlooked period of Scottish history. It particularly resonated with me having grown up in the Highlands, making me realise that my ancestors may have gone through a similar experience to the characters in the book.

[Jenny (bookishjenx) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really moving, beautifully written tale of the Highland Clearances. A perfect cosy, gentle read with some real pain weaved into every chapter.

I went in with zero knowledge about the clearances - embarrassingly - so I’m still quite in shock! Off to do more research 🤗

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!
Powerful, tender, touching and incredibly moving. It is a story of the Highland clearances, it is a story about the trauma it inflicted on a few lives and it is a very tender and very profound love story.

I had no idea about the women risings this book depicts, or the brutality they faced. It is appalling to think about now, and to see the visible scars still on the landscape of the Highlands of where peoples lives were upended and changed forever.

Highly recommended.

[Imogen Caddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and haunting story that brings to life what happened in the 1800s across the Scottish highlands and the clearances that occurred. The fiction is very well folded into fact and real events in history. I love how the author has weaved such a complex and interesting narrative throughout and included the silence that women went through in the menopause.

[Inge · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m probably missing something here, but I could not get into this. I was really interested in the time period and in Rutherglen specifically, so the parts which covered bits of that I loved. But gradually it got too confusing, too lost in retellings of stories and details of surroundings, varying time periods, and introductions to lots of fleeting characters.

The author spends time crafting every surrounding, or adding the poetry/lyrics of the protagonist to fit this. The protagonist likes etymology, so this gives a further chance to delve deep into topics suddenly. Sometimes this gets a bit much. It can feel like a bridge to topics the author would actually want to write about at times. At one point the protagonist goes over the word happy for instance, and then wonders if she was happy with her kids. It can really feel like a stretch.
So you’re getting a lot of information there already. What makes this is worse, is that you also get an introduction to lots of people whom each character has met at some part of their lives. They’re usually not directly relevant to their present day story, but we get a detailed description of them anyway. I got totally lost in who was who, before realising I wasn’t meant to care that deeply about them anyway.
To top it all off; the time periods keep fluctuating as well. Every chapter did specify which time period the reader would find themselves in, but within each chapter the characters would still be reflecting on moments of their past anyway. So I once again felt lost there.

Everything was written in a distant way, so I never felt like I cared for these characters. The protagonist maybe, towards the end. But I never felt like music was the overarching theme for her story. Music, poetry and kind people all made her heal, it wasn’t just music. Because the writing style was more tell than show, I found it hard to stay interested.

Basically, the style of this book wasn’t for me. I found it altogether too confusing to really enjoy, so I skimmed most of this so I could at least enjoy the historic bits. Sometimes a story would be told through the present day character themselves, or as if they’re living within their past lives, which suddenly did bring this story to life. I then caught a glimpse of what this book could’ve been. I’ll definitely look into the history of Rutherglen further as well. But story-wise, this book was a miss for me.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read by this author and I can honestly say, she is now in my top ten for historical fiction. I love the way she brings these historical stories to life, it’s like you are actually there. The plight of the locals, being fought for by the women of the settlement, was new to me- I’d never heard of this before. It’s so shocking to realise that those in charge would be so cruel to the locals. The beauty of this book though, is the successes achieved by those who were persecuted. The fact that love can still bloom in times of hardship and people will actually find strength in each other is reassuring. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for giving me a prepublication copy of this book to read- I would whole heartedly recommend this to lovers of historical fiction based on real historical events. It truly is a beautifully crafted tale.

[Ingibjörg · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent novel! Really the best of Magnusson's fiction (that I've read) so far. It highlights traumatic events in the Highland Clearances that not many seem to know about - I certainly had not heard about this before despite having studied and read about Scotland for a long time. It is also a beautiful and tender love story.

[Fiona Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haunting

I loved this book, the telling of the Highland Clearances in a completely new way. Merging of real life events and fiction. A satisfying ending.

[Melanie Glass · Rating 4 out of 5]

☆3.5

I was about half way through this book before I started to fully engage with the characters and the storyline.

A retelling of the Highland clearances, told from the perspective of the two main characters, provides a harrowing account not only of the clearance itself, but also the deep rooted trauma, injury and impact of many of those there.

However, it is also a story of hope, remembering & love.

A book worth persevering with!

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

A riveting read, with Sally Magnusson's writing drawing you into this story of the Highland clearances, their longer term impact and a love story interwoven into this. Well researched, with elements based upon her own mother and grandmother's experiences.

[Lise Østerhus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book with a good insight into what life for the victims of the Highland clearances might have been like, while simultaneously telling the story of strong individuals

[Megan Chalmers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sally Magnusson read chapter 22 out loud to me and I’m never going to be the same. Talk about a life changing lecture.

[Vanessa McMurtrie]

Book club read. The majority gave it 4 out of 5. I was a DNF as it just didn't compel me enough to pick it up to finish. Got the gist from the discussion.

[Lorraine Mccall · Rating 5 out of 5]

just about perfect

A beautiful, tender look at someone’s life as they grow older and experience early signs of dementia but are not defined by them but instead by a life lived.
This, set in a backdrop of that period of time of the clearances which society also is both remembering and forgetting.

[Beatrice Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 – so beautifully poetic, painful & poignant. just gorgeous

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another beautifully written book by Sally Magnusson, bringing to life the trauma and devastation experienced by those driven from their homes and communities during the Highland clearances.

[Audrey Haylins · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re a fan of historical fiction and appreciate reimaginings of actual events, then this beautifully written novel, about a dark period in Scotland’s past, is for you. Revolving around the Highland Clearances of the mid-1800s, when landowners forcibly evicted entire communities from their villages, Music in the Dark is a powerful and emotional read.

Thirty years after the brutal events that changed her life, Jamesina, a widow and horribly disfigured, is living in a tenement flat in Rutherglen. When she takes in a lodger, recently returned from America, little do they know of the ties that bind them.

Told over two timelines — one the true account of the notorious clearing of the village of Greenyards in 1853, the other a tender love story — this had me captivated from start to finish.

I adored the character of Jamesina; her fierce intellect and ambitions as a young girl enchanted by poetry and music, her quiet stoicism in the face of multiple tragedies, and ultimately the gentle unfurling of her scarred and hardened heart.

Magnusson’s writing is melodic and evocative, her weaving together of characters, real and imagined, effortlessly convincing.

Before reading this, I’m embarrassed to say that I knew nothing of the vital role that women of that time played in trying to protect their communities. I was ignorant of their bravery and sacrifices and of the awful physical and emotional trauma they had to live with for the rest of their lives.

I love that Magnusson took this tragedy and showed that good, kindness and compassion could still prevail.

I found this story truly mesmerising. And I read with interest Magnusson’s author’s note, in which she details her research and the real-life historical figures mentioned in the book. It’s clear that this is a subject very close to her heart and probably the reason why her words carry such emotional heft.

A new-to-me author, whom I shall be following with interest.

[Victoria Catherine Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Music in the Dark by Sally Magnusson begins in a Rutherglen tenement in 1884, when a widow called Jamesina Bain takes in a new lodger, not realising that they have a shared past. Both Jamesina and her new lodger were children during the forced clearance of Greenyards in Strathcarron when they witnessed and experienced unspeakable brutality at the hands of their dispossessors. Decades later, their coming together causes them to each reflect on their painful pasts.

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The Highland Clearances is a particularly brutal chapter of Scotland's history that has been the subject of much academic discussion. In Music in the Dark, Magnusson puts aside the causes of the clearances and instead explores the lifelong effects that the trauma had on those who were present. It's an informative piece of work, detailing both the women's roles in the clearances and the violence they suffered as a result, that manages to be surprisingly moving in its conclusion.

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Jamesina initially comes across as a prickly character - stoic, reserved and in possession of a sharp tongue - but her remembrances slowly reveal the bright, articulate and passionate girl she was in Greenyards, the suffocating impact life had on her character, and the parts of her personality that remain buried under the surface.

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I wasn't expecting to enjoy Music in the Dark as much as I did, but I found something really touching about the relationship between Jamesina and her lodger, and enjoyed the unravelling of her story.

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"The glimmer of an understanding that it might be safe to visit the person you used to be, the person you stopped being...that it might be safe to go there...one step at a time, because when you come back you know he will still be here."

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[David Holford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character in this book is a woman named Jamesina Ross, who lived in the Strathcarron in the 1840s and 50s, was badly injured in the infamous Greenyards Clearance of 1854, and who lived out a sad life in Glasgow over the decades that followed, yet whose life was ambushed by hope and healing in a way she could never have anticipated. I was so excited to find this story. My ancestors were Rosses from the nearby village of Gledfield (now a part of Ardgay) and I have long wondered how they experienced the Clearances of their beautiful valley. They were villagers, not crofters, so they were not evicted to make way for sheep walks, but they would surely have known those who were. And though they were not victims of the police truncheons I feel sure that the events of those dark years contributed in some way to the departure of various members of the family from that beautiful valley. My great great grandfather left Geldfield in the 1840s, but two younger siblings left in 1856, just two years after the events depicted in this novel. They were a similar age to the fictional Jamesina. I am grateful to Sally Magnusson for bringing this time to life in such a haunting and unforgettable way.

[Issi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this one. I gave it four stars, but would have awarded only three earlier in the reading process. I initially found it confusing to discern who was who, what the timings/dates were and why we kept getting these little injections of Latin to explain the origins of certain words in the English vocabulary. I found that almost pretentious and didn’t like the ‘nuisance factor’ of them appearing everywhere (despite being interested in the etymology of words). I digress. The book improved as it went on, as I understood where Jamesina’s injury had come from and worked out her previous relationships with men and what had happened in her life. By the time I was coming to the end of the book I was really enjoying it. But it wouldn’t have taken much for me to ‘spit my dummy out’ earlier in the reading process. So I ended up giving it four stars and over the piece have to say that I enjoyed it. A rich piece of history and I like Sally’s writing style. However this book was just too complex and slightly irritating in the beginning.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book: a great read. A fictionalised account of very real events involved in the Highland clearances of the mid 19th Century. These were based on the belief of the racial inferiority of the Celtic peoples, driven by commercial motives, and carried out with considerable violence and cruelty.
Magnusson is directly descended from people who were affected. She has researched carefully and describes the effects of the actions taken on individuals and families, which were often torn apart. Many people were displaced to the colonies and the Americas where some made good, but many others moved to work in the cities where poverty and overcrowding led to disease and early death.
The central role of women in resisting the clearances is also highlighted, and reference made to the early development of psychiatry in assisting some of those traumatised.

[Trina Dixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written almost poetic novel. A fictional story based on actual events with real life characters seamlessly blended with fictional ones.
With limited characters this novel has a dual timeline and tells us of dark times in Scottish history, the story of the Highland Clearances a time in the 1850's where tenant farmers were evicted from their properties,
Forward nearly 40 years and Jamesina Ross and a Munro brother are reunited. There then follows a slow burn attraction in which each other is given a chance to heal from the tragedies of the past

[Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 if I could, just a tricky ish read to keep track of so maybe does not match other 4 star books. A really lovely story nonetheless pretty raw but the healing that the characters begin to accept can be felt so deeply.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars is not enough to describe how much I have loved reading this book

[Kevin Crowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beginning near the end in 1884, then moving back to 1845 before moving forward and then back again, and written in different voices, Sally Magnusson's latest novel "Music in the Dark" could in less skilled hands have been confusing. But instead as the reader moves through the narrative, the structure makes perfect sense, allowing us to empathise with the two main protagonists, both of whom are victims of the notorious Highland Clearances, as their histories are gradually revealed.

It is a love story in which two damaged people, both of whom carry physical and psychological scars, gradually realise they have a shared past and fall in love, both achieving the happiness neither thought they would experience again.

It is also a story of the state condoning the use of violence in removing people from the land they and their predecessors had worked for generations, all in the name of progress.

Based on the actual evictions that took place in Ross-shire in the 1840s and 1850s and inspired by the author's great-grandmother who was one of the people evicted from the Isle of Mull in the 19th century, it is also a testament to the role of Highland women in resisting the evictions and the price many of them paid for that resistance.

Jamesina Bain, nee Ross, lives in a Rutherglen (a town near Glasgow) tenement, a widow whose dead husband used to beat her and all of whose children died. She has memory problems, probably caused by an injury she received when, as an adolescent, she was badly injured during the Ross-shire evictions, injuries that damaged her skull and left her face maimed for the rest of her life. In order to survive, she takes in a lodger, an initially mysterious and unnamed stranger who has just set up in business in Rutherglen as a cobbler.

We soon learn the shoe maker used to live in the USA, where he had been sent after himself being a victim of the Ross-shire clearances. Both of them are unused to company and have to find ways of becoming accustomed to each other.

In the sections that go back to the time of the clearances, we discover that Jamesina has a talent for both language and music. As she wanders the glens, she makes up songs about the things she sees. Like everyone in her community, Gaelic was her first language, but she is also fluent in English, so sometimes acts as a translator, such as when a campaigning journalist is interviewing people about the clearances. Also, thanks to the local free church minister, Gustavus Aird (a real person), she is fluent in Latin. At various times during the narrative her wandering mind thinks about the Latin roots of many of the English words she uses.

As the story of the relationship of these two lonely people develops, we see how they support each other, begin to rely on each other and fall in love with each other. Together they reclaim their lives and Jamesina rediscovers her voice. Ultimately, their love and mutual respect represents their victory over the horrors of the Highland Clearances they both experienced.

There is an old feminist slogan that states "the personal is political"; this beautifully written novel shows the truth of that statement.