Dan Boothby

Best for:
Fans of nature writing that also has a background story.

In a nutshell:
Author Boothby became fascinated by author Gavin Maxwell and the life he lived in Scotland, and spent time living where he did.

Worth quoting:
“…a genius doesn’t necessarily make for an easy person to live with or to know.”

“For once in my life I knew what it was to have purpose. Up until then, my life had been goal-orientated, which is all very well, but once you achieve a goal, or fail, what then? Set show more yourself up with another? Set yourself up to win, or lose? Over and over?”

Why I chose it:
I love Skye and the Highlands and pretty much all of Scotland (it’s why I live here now), and I also enjoy quality nature writing. Plus, otters!

Review:
There are two different books in here. Not literally, but there are stories that are related, and some parts are fantastic and other parts are more challenging.

Boothby read one of Gavin Maxwell’s books at a young age, and became enthralled with the life Maxwell led. I’d never heard of Maxwell before reading this book, but he’s apparently a well-known author who was also an unpleasant man who took in wild animals and kept them as pets. He was a complicated man by all accounts - the kind that people write books and stories about, even though as individuals they were probably deeply unpleasant to spend time with.

Maxwell lived in the West Highlands, and author Boothby decided to make a pilgrimage there many times, finally settling down there temporarily to serve as caretaker to the lighthouse and former home of Maxwell. He lived in a studio attached to what was turned into a holiday cottage that is rented by tourists, and gave tours while also keeping up the land. He looked for otters, and tried to commune with the spirit of Maxwell in that space.

The Maxwell storyline led to the book being written, and provides a bit of a connective tissue throughout, but the parts of most interest to me are the descriptions of the area and the people beyond Maxwell. Boothby discusses the old lighthouses and how they were staffed and maintained, about the challenges of living in harsh conditions. He describes the land and the weather and the plants and animals in ways that one could picture. That part of the book is intriguing and what kept me reading; the Maxwell bit much less so.

I might have given this book four stars, but at one point Boothby describes two women on a yacht as ‘blubbery.’ Come on dude. Unnecessary and also just bizarre choice. Which then makes me wonder about the author even more than I already had. show less

For two decades Boothby had been a perennial drifter. Always looking for that right place to settle, but never finding it meant that he moved from job to job and here there and everywhere. Then he was presented with a chance to live on the tiny island of Kyleakin, just off of Skye. Not only was this a unique opportunity, it was also the former home of Gavin Maxwell, author of Ring of Bright Water, and one of Boothby’s literary heroes.

He is asked to help the volunteers there with various show more tasks and running some of the tours round the island and lighthouse. Being an incomer it takes a while to gain the trust of those around him, but slowly those friendships are built. The island is a fantastic place for wildlife, there are basking sharks just off the shore, eagles soar the skies, seals zip through the waters and of course there are the otters. And as he settles in he starts to try and uncover and understand the mysterious man that was Maxwell. He meets people that knew him, and hears the rumours and stories from the locals of what they though was going on at the time.

This book is as much about the place as it is the personality of Gavin Maxwell. Where it is situated on the West Coast of Scotland means that it can be subject to the most brutal of winter storms. Boothby writes about the place with a genuine warmth. He likes the solitude that it can offer, whilst enjoying the company of others at other times. The writing is full of melancholy, as he uses the time there to reflect on his past, not with regret, just contemplation. I think that he appreciated the time that he spent there, and the freedom that he got. Worth reading in my opinion. show less