Author(s): Carys Davies

General Fiction

A wondrous tale of bonds forged when two men are pitted against each other on a remote island during the Highland Clearances, from the prize-winning author of West.

1843. On a remote Scottish island, Ivar, the sole occupant, leads a life of quiet isolation until the day he finds a man unconscious on the beach below the cliffs. The newcomer is John Ferguson, an impoverished church minister sent to evict Ivar and turn the island into grazing land for sheep. Unaware of the stranger's intentions, Ivar takes him into his home, and in spite of the two men having no common language, a fragile bond begins to form between them. Meanwhile on the mainland, John's wife Mary anxiously awaits news of his mission.

Against the rugged backdrop of this faraway spot beyond Shetland, Carys Davies's intimate drama unfolds with tension and tenderness: a touching and crystalline study of ordinary people buffeted by history and a powerful exploration of the distances and connections between us. Perfectly structured and surprising at every turn, Clear is a marvel of storytelling, an exquisite short novel by a master of the form.

Matilda Bookshop Review

In a rugged wilderness, Ivar, the sole occupant of an island off the north coast of Scotland lives a quiet existence. It is the mid-1800s and Shetlanders (and the environment) are being cleared in remote outposts to make way for sheep. When a young minister is sent to the island to ‘clear’ Ivar, a surprising connection is forged between these two men of vastly different worlds. Clear reveals the myriad ways we are shaped not only by our environments, but by the unbidden alchemy that sometimes occurs between strangers. MOLLY