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A review by trilby001
The Blackhouse by Peter May
4.0
I picked this book off the library shelf because it is set in the Outer Hebrides. I was not disappointed. Years ago I visited the Outer Hebrides around the summer solstice. One day the weather was calm and sunny; the next a terrible storm blew through--not much rain, but brutal winds.
May does a great job of capturing the bleak,landscape and the moody, changeable weather of the islands. Before I read this, I had not heard of the annual guga hunt. May's description of the rock and the hunt itself have a lifelike immediacy. But it's no fun excursion, rather a primitive rite of passage for the community.
In addition to the vivid portrayal of setting, the characters are also fully developed. May seamlessly presents exposition in the back-and-forth points of view of the characters in the past and present. Fin, the protagonist, is presented as likeable and sympathetic, but neurotic. His self-centered absorption in his own problems has caused problems in the past and present as well. In fact, it seems like the repressive religion and violent weather of the islands have combined to spur neuroses in just about all the locals. This is not only a well-crafted story, but a glimpse into life on Lewis and Harris.
May does a great job of capturing the bleak,landscape and the moody, changeable weather of the islands. Before I read this, I had not heard of the annual guga hunt. May's description of the rock and the hunt itself have a lifelike immediacy. But it's no fun excursion, rather a primitive rite of passage for the community.
In addition to the vivid portrayal of setting, the characters are also fully developed. May seamlessly presents exposition in the back-and-forth points of view of the characters in the past and present. Fin, the protagonist, is presented as likeable and sympathetic, but neurotic. His self-centered absorption in his own problems has caused problems in the past and present as well. In fact, it seems like the repressive religion and violent weather of the islands have combined to spur neuroses in just about all the locals. This is not only a well-crafted story, but a glimpse into life on Lewis and Harris.