Contemporary Scottish fiction

Cover image for That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz by Malachy Tallack

That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz by Malachy Tallack: Never too late to change

I’d not come across Malachy Tallack before his second novel, That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz, popped up on NetGalley. Tallack’s a singer-songwriter as well as an established writer of books about his beloved Shetland. The blurb promised a story about a man who has spent almost his entire life in one place who finds unexpected friendship […]

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Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart: ‘I’d do anything for you’

I’m not sure how much of Douglas Stuart’s debut is autobiographical but the first paragraph of his acknowledgements page suggests more than a smidgeon. Given that’s the page I often visit before reading a novel, Shuggie Bain was even more poignant for me than it would otherwise have been. Set in ’80s Glasgow, Stuart’s book

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