A family saga, an intriguing mystery, an ode to the Highlands – of Stone and Sky by Merryn Glover.
Of Stone and Sky – the blurb
After Highland shepherd Colvin Munro disappears, a mysterious trail of his possessions is found in the Cairngorm mountains. Writing the eulogy for his memorial years later, his foundling-sister Mo seeks to discover why he vanished. Younger brother Sorley is also haunted by his absence and driven to reveal the forces that led to Colvin’s disappearance. Is their brother alive or dead?
A trail of breadcrumbs
This is my first ever Scottish book club book and boy what a book. It’s another recent read that is a mystery but isn’t really. I say it isn’t but in some ways it SO is. What happened to Colvin and why the trail of possessions left in his wake like breadcrumbs? I can’t wait to book club Colvin’s possessions and their significance (although they are a bit like Harry Potter’s horcruxes in that I’m never going to be able to remember them all). Real interesting dissection to have there on Thursday when I go to my first meeting (eeks!)
I found the book timeless – even the modern parts, with the exception of Sorley’s ill fated London affair, felt like they could have fitted into any period in time. Is that the trick of the Highlands and it’s stoic mountains? Mo was a really interesting character shunning the ‘norms’ by running a pub and being a minister and dare I say it asexual? (or was this simply to do with her calling to God?). I single out Mo but there were a number of characters I liked whose heads I wish I could have seen inside of. Colvin for one!
The only thing I didn’t like was the typical Highland violent, drunk, penniless male streak that seemed to follow down the generations. At least it was acknowledged and even dealt with in the later stages of the book which was refreshing to read.
The overall quality of writing was So good, there is such a strong sense of place, the cover (hardback) was beautiful and I really enjoyed the whole story, both the mystery and the family saga. I will think of you Colvin Munro for some more time yet.
