With the timeline switching between 1910-1930 on St Kilda, 1930-1940 on Morvern Peninsular on the west coast of Scotland, and 1940 in occupied France, and the narrative switching between the voices of Chrissie, her daughter Rachel Anne, and Fred, this is a compelling and beautifully written novel. The gradually unfolding love story which underpins Chrissie and Fred’s relationship feels both convincing and very poignant, but it is matched by a parallel love story, the one symbolising how the islanders felt about St Kilda and for a way of life which was so precious to them. In many ways this felt like paean not just to a wildly beautiful place, but also to the loss of a unique community. Chrissie lives on the Island of St Killda which is incredibly isolated and poor: the dwindling number of residents live off the land and rely on boats from the mainland which come infrequently with supplies and post. Sometimes in the Winter the Island is completely cut off. I’ve always been fascinated by the Scottish island of St Kilda and its evacuation. So when I was offered to read and review this book, I jumped at the chance. And now that I have, I urge everyone else to read it also. The Lost Lights of St Kilda is definitely one of my favourite reads of 2020. It easily deserves a top five star rating in my view. St Kilda itself becomes a vivid and central character in its own right, and the sense of place is magnificently created. This is story telling at the highest level; gripping and completely and utterly immersive. Juliet Conlin was born in London and grew up in England and Germany. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Durham. She works as a writer and translator and lives with her husband an …

The Lost Lights of St Kilda by Elisabeth Gifford | Waterstones

The sad thing about this book is that I could see what the author was trying to achieve but it just didn't engage me. Initially I thought I was going to really enjoy the novel as we hear from three disparate characters:Fred Lawson is a young man who spends the summer of 1927 on St Kida’s to complete his geology thesis for Cambridge University. Both figure prominently in the 1927 St.Kilda timeline as they meet, and no spoiler here, fall in love. The 1940’s time line centers mainly on Fred. He is a soldier caught by the Germans at the battle for St. Valery where many Scotsmen were killed or captured, as the army retreated. It is his attempt to escape the Germans, flee France and remember his lost love of St Kilda that comprises his 1940’s story. Chrissie in the1940’s is living in Scotland with her teenage daughter. At her daughter Rachel Anne’s insistence she begins too recall life on St Kildas and eventually her lost love.Fred.

The Lost Lights of St Kilda: *SHORTLISTED FOR THE RNA The Lost Lights of St Kilda: *SHORTLISTED FOR THE RNA

Fred is a soldier who has escaped from a prisoner of war camp and he is making his way across France with the help of many brave French citizens who hide him and arrange guides to get him into Spain. The thought of his lost love keeps him going and the wonderful Summer he spent on St Kilda as a student with his best friend Archie, However he has not spoken to Archie for years and this becomes a central aspect of the novel. The opening was quite graphic with the mentions of fingernails being taken off etc but it just meant that I was immersed right away wondering what would happen. There was a lot of interesting history. Much of it new for me as I'd never heard of St. Kilda before. I also enjoyed the storyline about the soldiers. You can hear the same Gaelic lining out psalm singing that you would have heard on St Kilda at the time of the evacuation, still sung with moving fervour in parts of the Hebrides. There’s something about that mix of simple lifestyle, a caring community tied to the precarious elements of nature life and a deep spirituality that I think you can see in other cultures, and that is often there in modern Hebridean attitudes, but at the end of the day, St Kilda’s community was quite unique and something was lost with the evacuation of the island. Are any of the characters based on people you've known? This was an atmospheric novel set partly on a remote Scottish Island and partly in World War Two France.

Browse reviews by Magazine.

By 1927, the St Kildans' struggle to exist in such a harsh landscape is becoming increasingly tough, as their young people leave for the mainland. Boats can’t get into the harbor during winter storms so they are isolated for long dark months until the return of the bird population signals the arrival of spring. How much longer can they survive?