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O Caledonia Elspeth Barker

O Caledonia By Elspeth Barker

O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker


£6.80
New RRP £8.99
Condition - Very Good
<20 in stock

Summary

'A surreal, hilarious and dark story of a troubled adolescence deep in the wilds of Scotland' Maggie O'Farrell, Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020

O Caledonia Summary

O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION FROM MAGGIE O'FARRELL

Janet lies murdered beneath the castle stairs, oddly attired in her mother's black lace wedding dress, lamented only by her pet jackdaw...

In this, her first novel, Elspeth Barker evokes the unrelenting chill of Calvinism and the Scottish climate; it's a world of isolation and loneliness, where Barker's young protagonist turns to increasingly to literature, nature, and her risque Aunt Lila, who offer brief flashes of respite in an otherwise dank and foreboding life. People, birds and beasts move in a gleeful danse macabre through the lowering landscape in a tale that is as rich and atmospheric as it is witty and mordant. The family motto - Moriens sed Invictus (Dying but Unconquered) - is a fitting epitaph for wild, courageous Janet, and her determination to remain steadfastly herself even as events overtake her.

O Caledonia Reviews

A sparky, funny work of genius about class, romanticism, social tradition and literary tradition, and one of the best least-known novels of the 20th century * Ali Smith *
A surreal, hilarious and dark story of a troubled adolescence deep in the wilds of Scotland * Maggie O'Farrell *
Elspeth Barker's is a wholly original literary voice. O CALEDONIA, first published 20 years ago, reads as freshly now as then. Steeped in classical allusions, rich in Scottish - and natural - history, fantastical in its highly wrought characters, this coming-of-age-novella is as passionately intense as it is wittily acerbic... Propelled by the sheer force of words, the horrors and humours plunge on, observed by an eye both youthful and perspicacious... The reader feels unalloyed joy, and occasional winces, on every page * The Independent *
This is an extraordinary novel: original, beautiful yet tough (Barker loves jaggy, spiky words such as monkey puzzle, azaleas, horizon, anything with a z in it), with a sympathetic outsider of a heroine whose tragic fate is depicted on the very first page, puncturing any kind of narrative tension but capturing our attention nevertheless. Few see colour in a grey Scottish day the way Barker does, when a dying winter sun sheds an unearthly glory; shafting drifts of crimson, green and blue, alive with whirling atoms of dust ... And yet this darkly magical tale has been forgotten, displaced in the pantheon of great Scottish writing by other, supposedly tougher, work... Barker's love of the classics, her focus on mothers and daughters, and her remarkable evocation of landscape, should mark her out as one of Scotland's principal writers, but fashion and the politics of literary movements have skimmed over her. * Financial Times *
An absolute sumptuous treat of a book -- Elizabeth Macneal
O Caledonia is a Gothic coming-of-age story, the Brontes and Poe via Dodie Smith and Edward Gorey. Funny, surprising, exquisitely written -and brilliant on the smelly, absurd, harsh business of growing-up. -- David Nicholls

About Elspeth Barker

Elspeth Barker is a novelist and journalist. She was born in 1940 in Edinburgh. Her first husband was the poet George Barker. Her novel O Caledonia won four awards and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize. She has written for the Independent on Sunday, Guardian, Sunday Times, Observer, LRB, TLS, Scotland on Sunday, Vogue and many more. She currently writes for The Literary Review.

Additional information

GOR011753055
9781474620512
1474620515
O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Orion Publishing Co
20210930
224
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - O Caledonia