Reviewed by viking2917 on
Word comes from the isle of Lewis in the northernmost Hebrides of a similar murder, and Fin is sent back to the island where he grew up, suffered a number of tragedies, and has only returned once in 20 years.
Fin is the main character, but the Isle of Lewis, perhaps most famous for the viking Lewis chess set discovered there, might as well be. Cold and hostile, you can feel the wind howling across the machair (the peat fields), smell the peat fires burning, and ride the mountainous seas that the Islanders cross for the annual pilgrimage to An Sgeir, a barren, rocky cliff/island, where the Guga birds are slaughtered for the annual feast.
The Blackhouse is named for the ancient rock houses that dot the island, mostly now ruins rather than a place to live. The book is long, but revelations come hard and fast the entire book, each a bit darker than the previous one, until the book crashes on the events that transpired, then and now, on An Sgeir. May captures the casual cruelties of children and how those resonate throughout a lifetime.
Between revelations we're treated to May's gorgeous prose that captures the look, the feel, the smell and the cold of Lewis.
You're in for a treat.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 18 January, 2015: Finished reading
- 18 January, 2015: Reviewed