Anna Nicholson Previews: February 2007

Draw up that overstuffed, horsehair chair, ring the bell for the maid to bring you some tea, and rearrange the antimacassar: February is the month for settling down by the fireside with a good classic.

This month's big event in the Scottish book world is the simultaneous publication of five different editions of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped. This blog mentioned the book last month in connection with the Highland Year of Culture but it's the city of Edinburgh and its status as City of Literature that's being highlighted in the campaign to get the whole city reading the same book. 25,000 free copies will be distributed through the city's libraries, schools and other public places. BooksfromScotland have some exclusive stuff on the book: watch this space.

Another Edinburgh man, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is also the subject of a major re-issue. To mark the 120th anniversary of the publication of the first Sherlock Holmes mystery — A Study in Scarlet — Headline Review is reissuing all nine of Conan Doyle's classic mystery collections and full-length Holmes novels in attractive new jackets and prices.

To tie in with the re-issue, Tempus has Arthur Conan Doyle: Beyond Sherlock Holmes by Andrew Norman. Conan Doyle's interest in spiritualism has puzzled many: as a scientific man, he would have reasonably been expected to ignore the Victorian mania for fairies, seances, and other supernatural wonders. This book delves into the writer's involvement in the subject.

Undoubtedly, the work of Edwin Morgan can be thought of as classic. February sees the publication of an eagerly-awaited collection of poetry, A Book of Lives, the first to appear from Morgan in four years. He will be known to many from their schooldays: Morgan's poem, 'King Billy' was taught in schools for years but, of course, there's a lot more to the man. In 2004 he was appointed Scots Makar – National Poet for Scotland, our version of the Poet Laureate (makar is an old Scots word for poet).

Jane Harris's debut novel, The Observations, was published to great acclaim in 2006. This is the paperback version. Set in the 1860s, the book tells the story of Bessy Buckley, a fifteen year-old maid in a large house outside Edinburgh. When she arrives at the house she is nonplussed by her mistress's insistence that she keeps a diary of her movements and thoughts. Subsequent strange goings-on contribute to her growing sense of unease about the fate of her predecessor but is Bessy herself really as innocent as she pretends? Read the book to find out. The author, Jane Harris, brought up between Belfast and Glasgow, has come up with a genuinely original voice in Bessy. I liked her language: Victorian teenager? Glasgow street talk? Belfast slang? Or a guid Scots tongue in her head? You judge.

From the 1860s to the present day and a pop classic: Canongate is bringing out Prince, Thief in the Temple by Brian Morton which explores the life and work of Prince Rogers Nelson, singer and songwriter of such classics as 'Purple Rain' and 'Nothing Compares 2U'. Here at BfS.com we love his purple highness...

Finally, a reissue of a classic children's book and a lovely gift idea for the coming Spring season for young children: Elsa Beskow's Pelle's New Suit. Pelle has a lamb whose coat grows longer and longer, while Pelle's Sunday suit grows shorter. Pelle shears the lamb, and the wool is carded, spun, dyed and woven. Finally, the tailor makes a new suit for Pelle.

Elsa Beskow (1874-1953) was one of the founders of children's literature in Sweden. Her books have become classics of their kind and hark back to a gentler era. Floris Books in Edinburgh have the best collection of Beskow's work.