News of the Dead
News of the DeadJames Robertson
Buy on Amazon

News of the Dead (2021)

James Robertson

Others: Positive

"'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. . .' Hidden in the breath-taking mountains of wild Scotland, Glen Conach is the home of secrets and stories, of fables and facts. Over hundreds of years, three lives are woven together. In ancient Britain, the hermit Saint Conach performs impossible miracles, which survive as legend in 'The Book of Glen Conach'. Generations later in the nineteenth century, the book is rediscovered by charlatan Charles Gibb, who hustles his way into the manor at the heart of the village. In the present-day, young Lachie whispers to Maja of ghosts he has seen in the glen. Reflecting back on her long life, Maja believes him, as she has some ghosts of her own."--Provided by publisher.

ISBN:
9780241986622
Length:
371 pages

Lists: …

Similar books

1 of 6
  • Bastard Out of Carolina

    Dorothy Allison

    1992 · 309 pages · 1 review

    Others: Positive

    Essential Edition handsomely packaged with french flaps, rough fronts, high-quality paper, and a distinctive cover lookGreenville County, South Carolina, a wild, lush place, is home to the Boatwright family-rough-hewn men who drink hard and shoot up each other's trucks, and indomitable women who marry young and age all too quickly. At the heart of this astonishing novel is Ruth Anne Boatwright, known simply as Bone, a South Carolina bastard with an annotated birth certificate to tell the tale. Observing everything with the mercilessly keen eye of a child, Bone finds herself caught in a family triangle that will test the loyalty of her mother, Anney. Her stepfather, Daddy Glen, calls Bone "cold as death, mean as a snake, and twice as twisty," yet Anney needs Glen. At first gentle with Bone, Daddy Glen becomes steadily colder and more furious-until their final, harrowing encounter, from which there can be no turning back.

    Why?

    What made the match, strongest first

    Similar descriptions
    100%
    Personalize your recommendations
  • Empireland

    Sathnam Sanghera

    2021 · 368 pages · 1 review

    Others: Positive

    In his brilliantly illuminating new book Sathnam Sanghera demonstrates how so much of what we consider to be modern Britain is actually rooted in our imperial past. In prose that is, at once, both clear-eyed and full of acerbic wit, Sanghera shows how our past is everywhere: from how we live to how we think, from the foundation of the NHS to the nature of our racism, from our distrust of intellectuals in public life to the exceptionalism that imbued the campaign for Brexit and the government's early response to the Covid crisis. And yet empire is a subject, weirdly hidden from view. The British Empire ran for centuries and covered vast swathes of the world. It is, as Sanghera reveals, fundamental to understanding Britain. However, even among those who celebrate the empire there seems to be a desire not to look at it too closely - not to include the subject in our school history books, not to emphasize it too much in our favourite museums. At a time of great division, when we are arguing about what it means to be British, Sanghera's book urges us to address this bewildering contradiction. For, it is only by stepping back and seeing where we really come from, that we can begin to understand who we are, and what unites us. -- Provided by publisher.

    Why?

    What made the match, strongest first

    Books and Things loved both
    54%
    Similar descriptions
    46%
    Personalize your recommendations
  • And the Mountains Echoed

    Khaled Hosseini

    2013 · 446 pages · 2 reviews

    Others: Overwhelmingly positive

    Presents a story inspired by human love, how people take care of one another, and how choices resonate through subsequent generations. Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah and his sister Pari live with their father and step-mother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters. To Adbullah, Pari, as beautiful and sweet-natured as the fairy for which she was named, is everything. What happens to them-and the large and small manners in which it echoes through the lives of so many other people-is proof of the moral complexity of life. This story begins in 1952 Afghanistan with two motherless siblings and moves through complex relationships and generations to the United States, Paris, and Greece, weaving a story of commitment, love, honor, and sacrifice. The plot contains violence.

    Why?

    What made the match, strongest first

    Books and Things loved both
    55%
    Similar descriptions
    45%
    Personalize your recommendations
  • The Rental Heart And Other Fairytales

    Kirsty Logan

    2014 · 148 pages · 1 review

    Others: Positive

    Twenty tales of lust and loss. These stories feature clockwork hearts, lascivious queens, paper men, island circuses, and a flooded world; some are radical retellings of classic stories, some are modern-day fables, but all explore substitutions for love.

    Why?

    What made the match, strongest first

    Books and Things loved both
    62%
    Similar descriptions
    38%
    Personalize your recommendations
  • The Name of the Wind

    Patrick Rothfuss

    2007 · 667 pages · 42 reviews

    Others: Mostly positive

    The Name of the Wind, also called The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One, is a heroic fantasy novel written by American author Patrick Rothfuss. It is the first book in the ongoing fantasy trilogy The Kingkiller Chronicle. It was published on March 27, 2007, by DAW Books, the novel has been hailed as a masterpiece of high fantasy. The story begins the tale of Kvothe (pronounced "quothe"), a young man who becomes the most notorious magician his world has ever known. Kvothe narrates his own journey, from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players to his years as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, and his daring entrance into a prestigious and perilous school of magic. Patrick Rothfuss's debut novel has been praised for its fresh and earthy originality, transporting readers into the mind of a wizard and the world that shaped him. It explores the truth behind the legend of a hero and how one can become entangled in their own mythology. Rothfuss's powerful storytelling and robust writing have earned him comparisons to renowned fantasy authors such as Tad Williams, George R. R. Martin, and Robert Jordan. Followed by: The Wise Man's Fear (Source: special note from the publisher)

    Why?

    What made the match, strongest first

    Books and Things loved both
    62%
    Similar descriptions
    38%
    Personalize your recommendations
  • Black and British

    David Olusoga

    2016 · 592 pages · 8 reviews

    Others: Overwhelmingly positive

    David Olusoga's A Black History of Britain reaches back to Roman Britain, the medieval imagination and Shakespeare's Othello. Unflinching, confronting taboos and revealing hitherto unknown scandals, Olusoga describes how black and white Britons have been intimately entwined for centuries.

    Why?

    What made the match, strongest first

    Books and Things loved both
    64%
    Similar descriptions
    36%
    Personalize your recommendations

Reviews1