Twice Around the Bay

THIS IS THE sequel to Christina Hall’s bestselling first volume of memoirs – To the Edge of the Sea – and takes her story through her schooldays to her marriage and departure from the island. It is a story is full of vibrancy, life and colourful Hebridean characters. Uist in the 1950s and ’60s was a far different island to that which we know now. Causeways and roads had not yet been built; life was often harsh and punctuated by the reality of being sent away from home for secondary and higher education: ‘years in exile…all to fulfil my ambition of becoming a teacher in an island school.’ It was during this period the army arrived on Benbecula and it was through them that Christina met her future husband. While he was on St Kilda, she was appointed to a post in Glasgow. It was time to leave the island, though she knew she knew that ‘whatever the future might bring I could always come back – back to the croft, back to the family and back to the island’.

Reviews of Twice Around the Bay

'Moving memoirs of a childhood during the 1940s and 1950s on South Uist. Written with sharp observation, the author does not hide how hard life often was.' – Scots Magazine 'This moving memoir provides so much more than childhood reminiscences. The pages contain a fascinating portrait of the crofting lifestyle that has declines so much in recent years.' – West Country Life '… an enchanting tale… a vivid and charming picture' – Highland News Group