The Shadow by Neil M Gunn
Horrific experiences of the blitz in wartime London and the spiritual bankruptcy of her lover and his Marxist acquaintances are seen through the eyes of Nan, a young Scotswoman, who has returned to her native Highlands to recover from a nervous breakdown. Her letters to her lover from the warm and friendly ambience of a widowed aunt's farmhouse reflect her innermost thoughts on the essence of being and the restorative effects of the quiet rhythm of country life. The shadows of the immediate past begin to recede, but her return to health is rudely interrupted by news of the brutal murder of a neighbouring crofter and the unsolicited attentions of a sinister stranger. The inevitable relapse brings her aunt, a practical and cultured woman, into contact with both lover and stranger and pits her optimistic, human and emotional approach to life against the theories and bleak logic of the two men. The recovery of the young woman brings aunt and niece even closer together in their understanding of life, but the final denouement, although imbued with hope, is inconclusive and leaves the reader to imagine the eventual outcome. This is a subtly thoughtful and gripping novel, written with all the power of a master hand. Although written over fifty years ago, the book has a strange relevance to today's events. The blight of terrorism, the dominance of consumerism in everyday life, the absence of a spiritual dimension in domestic affairs and fears of the harmful effects of globalisation on the freedom and development of small communities, are symptoms of an uneasiness with regard to world stability and the erosion of traditional values and beliefs.
Neil Miller Gunn was born in Dunbeath, one of the nine children of 'bookish' Isabella Miller, and James Gunn, a fishing skipper of local renown. In 1911, he began 26 years as an excise officer, many of them at whisky distilleries in the Highlands and the Islands. In 1921, Gunn married Jessie Frew. The first of his 21 novels, The Grey Coast, appeared in 1926. In 1937, the acclaim won by his seventh, the prize-winning Highland River, encouraged him to resign his excise post and write full-time. Gunn's wife died in 1963, and he lived alone in the Black Isle until his death. Since then, his standing as one of Scotland's finest novelists had become even more firmly established, and the Neil Gunn International Fellowship has been founded in his honor.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781870325493 |
| ISBN 10 | 1870325494 |
| Title | The Shadow |
| Author | Neil M Gunn |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Whittles Publishing |
| Year published | 2006-08-17 |
| Number of pages | 256 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |