Kirsty Wark

Like most dual timelines, you find that one has more appeal than the other. In this case I had less time for Martha than I did for Elizabeth. Elizabeth is dead at the beginning and leaves her house on the isle of Arran to Martha's mother Anna. Martha is dealing with Anna's dementia, her sister's denial and her own broken romance. And I never really warmed to her. Elizabeth, on the contrary, was born on Arran in the early part of the 20th century and we see the events of the century through her memoir, written at the end of her life to ease her soul of the secret it had held for so very long.
It is random chance that leaves Martha with Elizabeth's house, and Martha spends time trying to understand Elizabeth, through people who knew her. We find out more about her as we're hearing her memoir told in parallel. The final turn of events is quite startling and leaves the present day stunned.
I liked finding more out about Elizabeth, who we first hear about as a little old lady, living alone and isolated in her home. By hearing her memoir, we find that there's a lot going on under the surface. She's someone who puts me in mind of my elderly female relatives; it's all solidity, no hint of the frolics of past years.
Martha I could have done without, as I could the sex scenes. Elizabeth's were chastely written, Martha's seemed to be equally as old fashioned and out of place. I'm not sure that, had I inherited a house form a stranger, I;d have reacted quite the same way Martha did. I'd have done a lot more throwing out. At times if felt like a character had been introduced into a scene and then forgotten about, the burial at the end introduces 2 people, then has nothing more to say about them. It felt a bit odd, like it could have done with a continuity editor, making sure that we'd counted all the characters into the scene and out again.
I have a hankering after visiting Arran after reading this, the place seeming to be the second most vividly drawn character after Elizabeth.… (more)