THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

Kate Atkinson, one of the world’s great storytellers conjures a captivating new book of short stories; a gift for Kate Atkinson fans.

In this first full collection since Not the End of the World, we meet a queen who makes a bargain she cannot keep; a secretary who watches over the life she has just left; and a man whose luck changes when a horse speaks to him. Witty and wise, with subtle connections between the stories, Normal Rules Don’t Apply is a startling and funny feast for the imagination.

In Kate Atkinson’s world nothing is over until ‘ the talking dog speaks.’

Praise for Kate Atkinson:

‘Inexhaustibly ingenious’ HILARY MANTEL

‘Simply one of the best writers working today, anywhere in the world’ GILLIAN FLYNN

‘A brilliant and profoundly original writer’ RACHEL CUSK

‘Atkinson is a novelist of unrivalled immediacy, authority, and skill’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Atkinson has a plotter’s mind: intricate, clever, satisfying’ THE SUNDAY TIMES

‘One of our finest novelists’ SUNDAY EXPRESS

‘Kate Atkinson is an international treasure: She creates characters with the ease of Agatha Christie, makes narratives out of mysteries and mystery out of narrative, and has written some of the most memorable scenes and dialogue I’ve encountered in the past decade’ VANITY FAIR

‘I can think of few writers who can make the ordinary collide with the extraordinary to such beguiling effect’ OBSERVER

‘One of the country’s most innovative, exciting and intelligent authors.’ SCOTSMAN

Shaun Bythell owns The Bookshop, Wigtown – Scotland’s largest second-hand bookshop. It contains 100,000 books, spread over a mile of shelving, with twisting corridors and roaring fires, and all set in a beautiful, rural town by the edge of the sea. A book-lover’s paradise? Well, almost…

In these wry and hilarious diaries, Shaun provides an inside look at the trials and tribulations of life in the book trade, from struggles with eccentric customers to wrangles with his own staff, who include the ski-suit-wearing, bin-foraging Nicky. He takes us with him on buying trips to old estates and auction houses, recommends books (both lost classics and new discoveries), introduces us to the thrill of the unexpected find, and evokes the rhythms and charms of small-town life, always with a sharp and sympathetic eye.

Kate Atkinson, one of the world’s great storytellers conjures a captivating new book of short stories; a gift for Kate Atkinson fans.In this first full collection since Not the End of the World, we meet a queen who makes a bargain she cannot keep; a secretary who watches over the life she has just left; and a man whose luck changes when a horse speaks to him. Witty and wise, with subtle connections between the stories, Normal Rules Don’t Apply is a startling , and funny feast for the imagination.In Kate Atkinson’s world nothing is over until ‘ the talking dog speaks.’____________Praise for Kate Atkinson:’Inexhaustibly ingenious’ HILARY MANTEL’Simply one of the best writers working today, anywhere in the world’ GILLIAN FLYNN’A brilliant and profoundly original writer’ RACHEL CUSK’Atkinson is a novelist of unrivalled immediacy, authority, and skill’ FINANCIAL TIMES’Atkinson has a plotter’s mind: intricate, clever, satisfying’ THE SUNDAY TIMES’One of our finest novelists’ SUNDAY EXPRESS’Kate Atkinson is an international treasure: She creates characters with the ease of Agatha Christie, makes narratives out of mysteries and mystery out of narrative, and has written some of the most memorable scenes and dialogue I’ve encountered in the past decade’ VANITY FAIR’I can think of few writers who can make the ordinary collide with the extraordinary to such beguiling effect’ OBSERVER’One of the country’s most innovative, exciting and intelligent authors.’ SCOTSMAN

Brought to you by Penguin.One of the world’s great storytellers conjures a captivating new book. In this first full collection since Not the End of the World, we meet a queen who makes a bargain she cannot keep; a secretary who watches over the life she has just left; and a man whose luck changes when a horse speaks to him. Witty and wise, with subtle connections between the stories, Normal Rules Don’t Apply is a startling , and funny feast for the imagination. In Kate Atkinson’s world nothing is over until ‘ the talking dog speaks.’©2023 Kate Atkinson (P)2023 Penguin Audio

John Niven’s little brother Gary was fearless, popular, stubborn, handsome, hilarious and sometimes terrifying. In 2010, after years of chaotic struggle against the world, he took his own life at the age of 42.

Hoping for the best while often witnessing the worst, John, his younger sister Linda and their mother, Jeanette, saw the darkest fears they had for Gary played out in drug deals, prison and bankruptcy. While his life spiralled downward and the love the Nivens’ shared was tested to its limit, John drifted into his own trouble in the music industry, a world where excess was often a marker of success.

Tracking the lives of two brothers in changing times – from illicit cans of lager in 70s sitting rooms to ecstasy in 90s raves – O Brother is a tender, affecting and often uproariously funny story. It is about the bonds of family and how we try to keep the finest of those we lose alive. It is about black sheep and what it takes to break the ties that bind. Fundamentally it is about how families survive suicide, ‘that last cry, from the saddest outpost.’

John Niven’s little brother Gary was fearless, popular, stubborn, handsome, hilarious and sometimes terrifying. In 2010, after years of chaotic struggle against the world, he took his own life at the age of 42.Hoping for the best while often witnessing the worst, John, his younger sister Linda and their mother, Jeanette, saw the darkest fears they had for Gary played out in drug deals, prison and bankruptcy. While his life spiralled downward and the love the Nivens’ shared was tested to its limit, John drifted into his own trouble in the music industry, a world where excess was often a marker of success.Tracking the lives of two brothers in changing times – from illicit cans of lager in 70s sitting rooms to ecstasy in 90s raves – O Brother is a tender, affecting and often uproariously funny story. It is about the bonds of family and how we try to keep the finest of those we lose alive. It is about black sheep and what it takes to break the ties that bind. Fundamentally it is about how families survive suicide, ‘that last cry, from the saddest outpost.’

Brought to you by Penguin.Travelling a thousand miles and across three billion years, Christopher Somerville (walking correspondent of The Times and author of Coast, The January Man and Ships of Heaven) sets out to interrogate the land beneath our feet, and how it has affected every aspect of human history from farming to house construction, the Industrial Revolution to the current climate crisis.In his thousand-mile journey, Somerville follows the story of Britain’s unique geology, travelling from the three billion year old rocks of the Isle of Lewis, formed when the world was still molten, down the map south eastwards across bogs, over peaks and past quarry pits to the furthest corner of Essex where new land is being formed by nature and man.Demystifying the sometimes daunting technicalities of geology with humour and a characteristic lightness of touch, Somerville’s book tells a story of humanity’s reckless exploitation and a lemming-like surge towards self-annihilation but also shows seeds of hope as we learn how we might work with geology to avert a climate catastrophe.It cannot fail to change the way you see the world beyond your door.©2023 Christopher Somerville (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Travelling a thousand miles and across three billion years, Christopher Somerville (walking correspondent of The Times and author of Coast, The January Man and Ships of Heaven) sets out to interrogate the land beneath our feet, and how it has affected every aspect of human history from farming to house construction, the Industrial Revolution to the current climate crisis.In his thousand-mile journey, Somerville follows the story of Britain’s unique geology, travelling from the three billion year old rocks of the Isle of Lewis, formed when the world was still molten, down the map south eastwards across bogs, over peaks and past quarry pits to the furthest corner of Essex where new land is being formed by nature and man.Demystifying the sometimes daunting technicalities of geology with humour and a characteristic lightness of touch, Somerville’s book tells a story of humanity’s reckless exploitation and a lemming-like surge towards self-annihilation but also shows seeds of hope as we learn how we might work with geology to avert a climate catastrophe.It cannot fail to change the way you see the world beyond your door.

Imagine a reality where the world s most powerful super-being does not grow up in Smallville, Kansas or even America, for that matter Superman: Red Son is a vivid tale of Cold War paranoia, that reveals how the ship carrying the infant who would later be known as Superman lands in the midst of the 1950s Soviet Union. Raised on a collective, the infant grows up and becomes a symbol to the Soviet people, and the world changes drastically from what we know – bringing Superman into conflict with Batman, Lex Luthor and many others. The acclaimed story by writer Mark Millar and artists Dave Johnson & Kilian Plunkett is collected here, featuring an extensive sketch section by Johnson, Plunkett and Alex Ross. Collects Superman: Red Son #1-3.

Iona Lee’s debut collection charts the journey of the writer, artist and performer into adulthood. Written in a unique voice, Iona playfully toys with thematic devices in this entertaining exploration of art and artifice, absence and impermanence, truth and tale telling. Characterised by a deep love of language, its music and its magic, these poems reflect on memory, the future and other hauntings. Wittily observed, this collection is an attempt to connect the stars into tidy constellations, and to join the tiny, inchoate dots of self into something traceable and translatable.

Humorous and self-aware, gentle and philosophical, Anamnesis is written in the knowledge that in telling one’s life-story, one creates it.

This relatively remote cruising area at the edge of the North Sea has much to offer small and shoal-draught boats that will take the ground, but skippers of larger, deeper keeled yachts will also find a good selection of harbours and anchorages to choose from, particularly during settled conditions or in periods of offshore winds.

Ashore, there is a long and rich history of Scottish culture and innovation to discover, as well as superlative landscapes to explore. Popular as a landfall destination for yachts sailing across the North Sea from the approaches to the Baltic, the east coast of Scotland is well worth exploring as part of any circumnavigation of Great Britain.

SOON TO BE A MAJOR FILM STARRING EMMA STONE, FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE FAVOURITE

Winner of the Whitbread Novel Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize

A life without freedom to choose is not worth having.

Godwin Baxter’s scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realized when he finds the drowned body of the beautiful Bella, who he brings back to life in a Frankenstein-esque feat. But his dream is thwarted by Dr. Archibald McCandless’s jealous love for his creation…But what does Bella think?

This story of true love and scientific daring whirls the reader from the private operating-theatres of late-Victorian Glasgow through aristocratic casinos, low-life Alexandria and a Parisian bordello, reaching an interrupted climax in a Scottish church.

‘A magnificently brisk, funny, dirty, brainy book’ London Review of Books

‘Visionary, ornate and outrageous’ The Independent

‘Witty and delightfully written’ New York Times

‘A brilliant marriage of technique, intelligence, and art.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘The greatest Scottish novelist since Sir Walter Scott’ Anthony Burgess

‘Those who, like me, are unsure if they are Alasdair Gray fans or not, ought to fall on Poor Things with delight, and not just because of the almost excessive beauty of its appearance’ Philip Hensher, Spectator

‘A phenomenal memoir. I am in awe’ AMY LIPTROT

‘Beautiful, deep, dangerous, transfixing . . . it will burn a home in your heart, it has in mine. Read every word of every page. Turn them carefully. Jenni Fagan is made of fire and spirit. From start to finish I could not put it down. Close the door. Sit down now. Read Ootlin. Read’ LEMN SISSAY

‘Essential reading, life changing, I couldn’t stop reading once I started . . . Unbelievably brave. Beautiful , earth shattering and unforgettable. A truly rare talent’ SAMANTHA MORTON

The government told a story about me before I was born.

Jenni Fagan was property of the state before birth. She drew her first breath in care and by the age of seven, she had lived in fourteen different homes and had changed name multiple times.

Twenty years after her first attempt to write this powerful memoir, Jenni is finally ready to share her account. Ootlin is a journey through the broken UK care system – it is one of displacement and exclusion, but also of the power of storytelling. It is about the very human act of making meaning from adversity.

Brought to you by Penguin.

The government told a story about me before I was born.

Jenni Fagan was property of the state before birth. She drew her first breath in care and by the age of seven, she had lived in fourteen different homes and had changed name multiple times.

Twenty years after her first attempt to write this powerful memoir, Jenni is finally ready to share her account. Ootlin is a journey through the broken UK care system – it is one of displacement and exclusion, but also of the power of storytelling. It is about the very human act of making meaning from adversity.

‘Beautiful, deep, dangerous, transfixing . . . it will burn a home in your heart, it has in mine. Read every word of every page. Turn them carefully. Jenni Fagan is made of fire and spirit. From start to finish I could not put it down. Close the door. Sit down now. Read Ootlin. Read’ LEMN SISSAY

‘A phenomenal memoir. I am in awe. It takes exceptional strength to survive the events described in this book and courage, skill and magic to write a life story, especially when this type of story is often marginalised’ AMY LIPTROT

‘Essential reading, life changing, I couldn’t stop reading once I started . . . Unbelievably brave. Beautiful , earth shattering and unforgettable. A truly rare talent’ SAMANTHA MORTON

©2023 Jenni Fagan (P)

2023 Penguin Audio

The highly-anticipated second instalment in the CRIME trilogy, now a hit TV Series

Justice can be a blunt instrument

“Men like him usually tell the story.

In business.

Politics.

Media.

But not this time: I repeat, he is not writing this story.”

Ritchie Gulliver MP is dead. Castrated and left to bleed in an empty Leith warehouse.

Vicious, racist and corrupt, many thought he had it coming. But nobody could have predicted this.

After the life Gulliver has led, the suspects are many: corporate rivals, political opponents, the countless groups he’s offended. And the vulnerable and marginalised, who bore the brunt of his cruelty – those without a voice, without a choice, without a chance.

As Detective Ray Lennox unravels the truth, and the list of brutal attacks grows, he must put his personal feelings aside. But one question refuses to go away…Who are the real victims here?

Scotland’s economic capacity to prosper independently of Britain has become a key political issue, dominating the independence referendum of 2014 and continuing to influence British politics since. But, as this book shows, the Scottish economy, is not merely a statistical object – it is also a political, sociological and cultural idea which has been imagined and constructed.

The book explores the history of how Scotland has been framed in statistical and policy terms which are laden with conflicts over meaning, ranging from class struggles and struggles against “external control” to the ongoing debate over national independence. Using Scotland as a case study for examining the political meaning of “the economy”, the book also considers the origins of efforts to measure the Scottish economy in the British nationalist terms of “regional policy”. It then considers the influence, in turn, of North Sea oil, globalisation/Europeanisation, class dealignment and neoliberal “enterprise” ideology in changing the meanings attached to the Scottish economy. These form necessary conditions for the debate on national independence, where the nature and the future of the Scottish economy remains the central controversy. By examining the economic ideas of a self-proclaimed “cosmopolitan” nationalist movement, the study will offer deeper insights into how nationalists are adapting to the crisis of globalisation.

This book marks a significant contribution to the literature on Scottish independence as well as economic sociology, nationalism, critical geography and political economy more broadly.

In 1690, the Church of Scotland rejected episcopal authority and settled as Presbyterian. The adjacent Presbyteries of Stirling and Dunblane covered an area that included both lowland and highland communities, speaking both English and Gaelic and supporting both the new government and the old thus forming a representative picture of the nation as a whole.

This book examines the ways in which the two Presbyteries operated administratively, theologically and geographically under the new regime. By surveying and analysing surviving church records from 1687 to 1710 at Presbytery and parish level, Andrew T. N. Muirhead shows how the two Presbyteries related to civil authorities, how they dealt with problematic discipline cases referred by the Kirk Sessions, their involvement in the Union negotiations and their overall functioning as human, as well as religious, institution in seventeenth-century Scotland. The resulting study advances our understanding of the profound impact that Presbyteries had on those involved with them in any capacity.

Is it possible for books to dream? For books to dream within books? Is there a literary subterranea that would facilitate ingress and exit points through these dreams?

These are some of the questions posed by David Keenan’s masterly fifth novel, Monument Maker, an epic romance of eternal summer and a descent, into history, into the horrors of the past; a novel with a sweep and range that runs from the siege of Khartoum and the conquest of Africa in the 19th century through the Second World War and up to the present day, where the memory of a single summer, and a love affair that took place across the cathedrals of Ile de France, unravels, as a secret initiatory cult is uncovered that has its roots in macabre experiments in cryptozoology in pre-war Europe.

MONUMENT MAKER straddles genres while fully embracing none of them, a book within a book within a book that runs from hallucinatory historical epics through future-visioned histories of the world narrated by a horribly disfigured British soldier made prophetic by depths of suffering; books that interact with Keenan’s earlier novels, including a return to the mythical post-punk Airdrie landscape of his now classic debut, THIS IS MEMORIAL DEVICE; whole histories of art and religion; books that are glorious choral appendices; bibliographies; imagined films; tape recorded interviews; building to a jubilant accumulation of registers, voices and rhythms that is truly Choral.

Written over the course of 10 years, MONUMENT MAKER represents the apex of Keenan’s project to create books that contain uncanny life and feel like living organisms. It is a meditation on art and religion, and on what it means to make monument; this great longing for something eternal, something that could fix moments in time, forever.

‘For all these years I’ve told stories. Sometimes these days I also tell them on the radio. I’ve met some amazing people and their stories need told too. The first time Deacon Blue ever played Wembley Arena I started to introduce a song only to hear, “Get on with it” shouted from Row Z. We proceeded with the song, but I often thought I’d quite like to finish that story.’

In 1986, Ricky Ross started a full-time career in music, which has lasted for over 35 years. His earlier working life was spent in youth work and teaching in his home city of Dundee, and his adopted home of Glasgow. It was in these two cities where he spent his formative years learning how to write and play songs.

Having always written about the people and places who’ve made an impact on his life, it’s no surprise that this is how he has approached Walking Back Home, his first ever memoir, which takes the reader on a journey from Ricky’s childhood to the rollercoaster of leading his band to top of the charts and their break-up, his solo career and Deacon Blue’s recent renaissance.

New Writing Scotland is the principal forum for poetry and short fiction in Scotland today. Every year we publish the very best from emerging and established writers, and list many of the leading literary lights of Scotland among our contributors.