In a few words
‘Illuminating and thought-provoking’ Irvine Welsh, Guardian
The great McIlvanney themes - class, guilt, the power of the book, the difficulty of goodness - are all there, seething under the surface
Stuart Kelly
Daily TelegraphRemarkable . . . everything in the novel is illuminated by the play of a subtle, sceptical and yet affirmative intelligence
Allan Massie
Scotland on SundayMore about
the book
In a Victorian mansion hotel on a Scottish island, a group of English Literature lecturers and students from Glasgow gather for a residential weekend. The weekend proves to be a major turning point in the emotional lives of several people – just not quite in the way any of them expected.
Wonderfully witty and wistful
William McIlvanney paints a world of harsh reality, but does so in language that is strangely beautiful and hauntingly poetic
Craig Russell