This is a book I’ve read before, many years ago, so it was familiar to me. Set in the late 1950’s, it’s a memoir posing as fiction and follows Miss Peckwitt, a middle aged Englishwoman, who recuperates on a Hebridean island in Scotland in a place called Bruach. She lodges with Morag and is introduced to the many residents of the locality and their intriguing customs. She arrives during a storm and is unceremoniously deposited in the boat. The house is inaccessible at high tide apart from a high wall which she has to climb. Other residents include Morag’s brother Ruari who lives next door who has a tremendously loud voice, the taxi driver/coal deliverer, and many others.
There are many humorous anecdotes involving chickens, cows and the locals. Miss Peckwitt visits many places including the church for mass which involves a hell and damnation preacher, a hilarious boat trip with geologists, a cattle sale, a Ceilidh (a meeting for gossip and song), a dance, a wedding, and a visit home means shopping for the whole village.
There are many things I like about this book including it’s humour, the eccentricities of the people and the exposure to Scottish island life.
Readable 