Hame
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'Hame, n. Scottish form of 'home': a valued place regarded as a refuge or place of origin.' In the wake of the breakdown of her relationship, Mhairi McPhail dismantles her life in New York and moves with her 9-year-old daughter, Agnes, to the remote Scottish island of Fascaray. Mhairi has been commissioned to write a biography of the late Bard of Fascaray, Grigor McWatt, a cantankerous poet with an international reputation. But who was Grigor McWatt? Details of his past - his tough childhood and his war years as a commando - are elusive, and there is evidence of a mysterious love affair which Mhairi is determined to investigate. As she struggles to adapt to her new life, and put her own troubled past behind her, Mhairi begins tounearth the astonishing secret history of the poet regarded by many as the custodian of Fascaray's - and Scotland's - soul.
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A really difficult book to review as you feel like you are being unfair. By rights I should have probably loved this book with its mixture of Scottish poetry, meta faction and descriptions of the island, However, I found Mhairi the woman researching McWatt's life pretty annoying as she wanders around the island ignoring her daughter and trying to avoid thinking about her ex husband and stupid affair. The lack of a plot hampers the book, I can't survive on poetry alone and I found the book bit dull and a slog to read at times, The ending made me want to throw the book across the room, it was one of those books when you feel like the writer just ran out of ideas and gave up. I just got so frustrated with the potential, I wanted to pan it but it's just like a beautiful vase with holes in the bottom, brilliantly crafted but ultimately failing in its function. Maybe I would have loved it if it had been about Wales, as it is I am just so pleased to have finished it and be able to return it to the library.
