Clear

Davies (The Mission House) delivers a unique and moving novel about a minister tasked with evicting the lone inhabitant of a remote island north of Scotland. The story is set in 1843, toward the end of the Scottish Clearances, when thousands of unfortunate residents were forcibly removed through mandatory evictions. Against his wife’s wishes, John, a poor Scottish minister desperate to earn some income, agrees to relocate Ivar from the island. When John arrives at the island, however, he immediately falls off a cliff and is nursed back to health by Ivar, who has no idea what John’s arrival means for him. Used to being solitary, with only his animals and the ocean for company, Ivar quickly takes to John. Together, they work past their language barriers and begin to understand each other, forging a close friendship, which prompts both to reconsider past assumptions and points of view. The audiobook is impeccably narrated by Russ Bain, whose pleasing Scottish timbre infuses the story with authenticity and heart.