Looking Forward to April
April is a good month for publishers. As well as heading off to the annual London Book Fair, they've begun their publishing season in earnest. There's the Easter holidays with the promise of holiday reading, a glut of gardening titles, and most people will be waking up fully (in the northern hemisphere at least) after a dark winter.
This month there are some excellent titles from established writers and a focus on first books.
The paperback version of the award-winning George Mackay Brown: A Life comes out this month. Maggie Fergusson has done a fine job with her first book. This sensitively–written biography takes what appears to be the outwardly uneventful life of the Orkney poet and novelist (if you can call being shortlisted for the Booker-Prize uneventful...) and makes a fascinating story out of it.
It will be interesting to see Between the Bridge and the River, a first novel by Craig Ferguson, better known to us as a TV actor and comedian who has gone off to the US to make his career there. The publisher's blurb describes it as being a 'throwback to the British novels of two decades ago', whatever that means. I think they mean it comes from a time before we all got PC. (Haven't they read Irvine Welsh?)
Chroma, the newish imprint from B & W has a novel out: Meet Me Under the Westway is by Stephen Thompson and tells the story of Jem, an aspiring playwright living in bohemian Notting Hill.
Preferred Lies: A Journey to the Heart of Scottish Golf by Andrew Greig: can't say I like golf or its knitwear, so I approached this book with trepidation. I needn't have worried: Andrew Greig is too good a writer to come up with something dull. He goes round Scotland to some far-flung golf courses and manages to convey beautifully the attraction of the game. Along the way, he talks of his father, his childhood, his illness, and friendship, but most of all, it's a hymn of praise to Scotland's natural environment. I would absolutely recommend this title even if you don't care a hoot about golf...
Talking about golf, there's also Two Years In St. Andrews: At Home On The 18th Hole by George Peper which tells the story of a couple from the American suburbs who come to visit St Andrews and make it their home.
Walking Through Scotland's History: Two Thousand Years On Foot by Ian R. Mitchell looks at the activity of walking in Scotland, from cattle drovers to armies, and from missionaries to tourists and travelling people. This sounds like a really good premise for a book and a great opportunity to bring together social history, geography, and the environment.
I like to end my previews with a book that you might not come across in your local bookshop. This month it's a title in the romantic genre. How to Abduct a Highland Lord by Karen Hawkins has a suitably tartan frou-frou cover and as I can't improve on the blurb, here it is:
Determined to save her family from a bloody clan war, Fiona MacLean kidnaps and marries their greatest enemy, Black Jack Kincaid. After a night of debauchery, the unsuspecting rogue is stunned to wake up married to the woman he once loved and has never stopped desiring. With the tense peace between their clans resting on their unlikely union, will Jack redeem himself, rekindle their passion, and win Fiona's heart - which he finally realizes he has always desired?
- Between The Bridge And The River: A Novel
Two childhood friends from Scotland and two illegitimate half-brothers from the Deep South suffer and enjoy all manner of bizarre adventures that, it turns out, are somehow interconnected - and, even more surprisingly, meaningful. - George Mackay Brown: The Life
George Mackay Brown was one of Scotland's greatest 20th century writers, but in person a bundle of paradoxes. Maggie Fergusson interviewed him several times and is the only biographer to whom he gave his blessing. Through his letters and through conversations with his acquaintance, she discovers that his life was vivid and surprising. - Two Years In St. Andrews: Two Years In St Andrews
In 1983, Americans George Peper and his wife, Libby, completed the purchase of 9a Gibson Place, St. Andrews. But it was not until 2003, when George gave up his job in New York, that the couple could move to St. Andrews for what they originally expected to be a two-year interlude. This is their story. - How To Abduct A Highland Lord
From New York Times bestselling author Karen Hawkins, the first book in a sexy, humorous new Regency-era series featuring a fiery Scotswoman who ends a clan feud by marrying the man she'd sworn never to see again. - Meet Me Under The Westway
Jem, an aspiring playwright living in bohemian Notting Hill, dreams of being a success but, after years of struggle, is still no closer to achieving his objective. And, just when he thinks things can't get any worse for him, the career of his best friend and fellow playwright begins to take off. - Preferred Lies: A Journey To The Heart Of Golf
Andrew Greig grew up on the east coast of Scotland, where playing golf is as natural as breathing. He has played on the Old Course at St Andrews as well as on the miners' courses of Yorkshire. He writes about the different cultural manifestations of the game, the history, the geography, and the different social meanings. - Walking Through Scotland's History: Two Thousand Years On Foot
Taking an original look at pedestrian activity in Scotland throughout the ages, this book begins the journey with the Roman legions and early Christian missionaries and pilgrims, before moving on to the exploits of the Jacobite and Hanoverian armies.