Greenvoe, the tight-knit community on the Orcadian island of Hellya, has existed unchanged for generations. However, a sinister military/industrial project, Operation Black Star, requires the island for unspecified purposes and threatens the islanders' way of life. In this, his first novel (1972), George Mackay Brown recreates a week in the life of the island community as they come to terms with the destructiveness of Operation Black Star. A whole host of characters - The Skarf, failed fishermen and Marxist historian; Ivan Westray, boatman and dallier; pious creeler Samuel Whaness; drunken fishermen Bert Kerston; earth-mother Alice Voar, and meths-drinker Timmy Folster - are vividly brought to life in this sparkling mixture of prose and poetry. In the end Operation Black Star fails, but not before it has ruined the island. But the book ends on a note of hope as the islanders return to celebrate the ritual rebirth of Hellya.
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A poetic, distinguished and totally delightful Orcadian story... full of humour and sensitivity and of the unsentimental poetry of raw experience. --Sunday Times
About the Author
George Mackay Brown is one of the major Scottish literary figures of the twentieth century. A prolific poet and novelist, he took much of his inspiration from the myths and landscape of Orkney, and also from his deep Catholic faith. His collection of short stories 'A Time to Keep' (1971) won the Katherine Mansfield Mentor short story prize and his novel 'Beside the Ocean of Time' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1994. He died in 1996.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Greenvoe is well worth reading for anyone interested in issues of island communities. It weaves ancient Orkney myth and legend, sometimes written in the literary style of the ancient "Orkneyinga Saga",with the dynamics of everyday life in a dwindling, island community. There are portents throughout of impending doom to the island. I especially like the character of Mrs. Elizabeth McKee, mother of the local minister and her struggle with her "demons of memory". I ended the book , moved and saddened by the theme of the disappearance of a local culture. Highly recommended Susan Richardson
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Caledonia558
Format:Paperback
This is a quite astounding novel, for many different reasons. It immediately evokes a strong sense of place through its descriptiveness and characterisation, and also through the distinctly Orcadian speech patterns of the characters. The story is told from multiple points of view, using different styles and weaving fantasy and reality in a way that makes the book more intriguing and more difficult to put down as the story progresses. The individual characers' stories are interwoven with that of the community itself, making the novel's climax both saddening and compelling. Greenvoe could be read almost as an elegy for lost island communities, but there are also glimmers of hope in the book's ending. I have never come across another book quite like this, and would recommend it to anyone who's interested in Orkney, or just looking for a really unique read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Katy M
Format:Paperback
I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this book or not, but I started it and then found it hard to put down! GMB has such a wonderful turn of phrase and his descriptions of people and places are so poetic without being sentimental, you just feel that you are there amongst them. At times I wasn't sure if what I was reading was myth or reality, but it didn't matter as the story just flowed so beautifully. Dark at times, yes, but with moments of wry humour and the presence of hope amidst adversity. Can't wait to read another one of his!
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