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'In mood and texture, Peter May's novels, set on the Isle of Lewis, are essentially Nordic, and he bears comparison with some of the best writers from those cold desolate climes' The Times. 'well worth reading' The Sunday Times.
'as good as its superb predecessor, The Blackhouse ... this is not only a good mystery, but also a moving and evocative portrayal of a place where the unforgiving weather is matched only by the church's harsh patronage' Guardian.
'The depiction of the island atmosphere is as impressive as the action' The Sunday Telegraph. 'The book is gritty in a fine way ... a delight: bringing people and place alive in equal measure' Shots Mag. 'a hymn in praise of the beauties of the islands and miseries of their weather' Scotsman.
'as good as its superb predecessor, The Blackhouse ... this is not only a good mystery, but also a moving and evocative portrayal of a place where the unforgiving weather is matched only by the church's harsh patronage' Guardian.
'The depiction of the island atmosphere is as impressive as the action' The Sunday Telegraph. 'The book is gritty in a fine way ... a delight: bringing people and place alive in equal measure' Shots Mag. 'a hymn in praise of the beauties of the islands and miseries of their weather' Scotsman.
Product Description
A MAN WITH NO NAME. An unidentified corpse is recovered from a Lewis peat bog; the only clue to its identity being a DNA sibling match to a local farmer. A MAN WITH NO MEMORY. But this islander, Tormod Macdonald - now an elderly man suffering from dementia - has always claimed to be an only child. A MAN WITH NO CHOICE. When Tormod's family approach Fin Macleod for help, Fin feels duty-bound to solve the mystery.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
66 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The past casts long shadows...,
By
This review is from: The Lewis Man: Book Two of the Lewis Trilogy (Hardcover)
With this second part of his Lewis trilogy (the first being The Blackhouse), Peter May has again shown that he is up there in the top rank of the current crop of Scottish crime writers.When a preserved body is discovered in a peat bog, DNA testing shows that the victim is related to Tormod Macdonald, the father of Marsaili, Fin Macleod's childhood love. Fin has now left the police force in Edinburgh and returned to Lewis to restore his parents' house and soon gets sucked into the investigation. Tormod is suffering from dementia and although he still has flashes of memory about the events of his youth he is unable to tell the story of what happened in words. However, the reader is allowed into Tormod's mind and through a combination of his fragmentary recollections and Fin's investigations a grim and moving picture gradually develops of Tormod's childhood experiences first in an orphanage and then shipped as a 'homer' to a family in the islands. May's story-telling skills bring this shameful and little known part of Scotland's recent past vividly to life. And again, as in the first novel in the series, the long shadows of the past loom threateningly over the present day. As always, May's research is meticulous and the picture he creates has an air of complete authenticity. For me, the Lewis novels are shaping up to be his best - it seems he has an affinity with the life and natural world of the islands which makes his descriptive writing compelling. His recurring characters are likeable and their story is further developed in this book. May's handling of Tormod's difficult childhood and present dementia is sensitive and sympathetic. However, he also manages to inject some humour into the story to lighten the otherwise dark and bleak tone. I enjoyed The Blackhouse very much, but I believe this one is even better. I am only sorry that it seems there will only be one more in the Lewis series. Highly recommended.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
moving and haunting - not (just) a thriller,
By back to basics (Glasgow - Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Lewis Man: Book Two of the Lewis Trilogy (Hardcover)
This is a total surprise. It starts out a mystery story, it soon becomes a search to identify who perpetrated a murder from half a century ago, and it's at times over-decorated with passages of scenic description. None of these features are the point, and it's unexpectedly moving for quite different reasons.Running throughout are retrospect chapters, the unspoken silent reminiscences of an elderly man, father of the detective's childhood sweetheart. He is connected, so DNA tests have established, to the body of a murdered man found preserved in a bog. Is he the killer? Or rather, was he the killer? Now he's suffering from dementia and can barely communicate. What's remarkable is the extent to which this man is shown to think and to feel, and how he does in his way connect to his immediate world, even while unable to communicate that connection. He feels pain, hurt, pleasure, joy. And all this is rendered simply, cleanly, in prose of total plainness, nothing fancy, and is extraordinarily moving because it stays so plain. Usually it's been film that's given us portraits of the incapacities that can accompany degeneration of the mind - "Iris", for instance, gave us a visual portrait of Iris Murdoch in her last years that was a heart-breaking contrast with how she once had been. What's moving here, though, is something more: Peter May's Lewis Man is still lucid in his thoughts and his recollections while clumsy and helpless as he tries to communicate to the world he inhabits, to the point of unwittingly alienating his wife and many of the well-meaning people who attempt to care for him. It's very Scottish, this capacity to make words and feelings so moving by dint of not exaggerating and not decorating, and opting instead for what appears unemotional plainness. The effect - and it's highly emotional for not trying to be so - is one of sustained intensity. The poignancy comes from the gap between this man's fluent and clear inner monologue, set against and in disharmony with the discourses and chatter that surround him and place him, occasionally but not always registering its kindnesses and its concerns. This may leave it sounding an uncomfortable read, but it isn't so, not at all. There's nothing didactic here, no finger-wagging or telling us off for insensitivity. The righteous minister who puts in a guest appearance is mainly there for over-righteousness to be mocked. Rather, this book opens a door on the minds of old and disabled people, and indeed all people who harbour a generous lucidity which they can't utter. When novelists of the past attempted this fission or split between inner monologue and outer world, it was usually through giving a poeticism to the inner world, in the manner of Faulkner, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. There's none of that poeticism on show here, and for that it's all the more feelingful and memorable. I'd forgotten the thriller plot by the time I turned the last page (even though it's got an ending with twists and turns in plenty) but I remain haunted by the portrait of solitude it presents. I doubt if I'll ever again be able to regard the old and the feeble with indifference, and ultimately it's given me a larger sense of our world. Memorable, tender, and warmly recommended!
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Want to go to Lewis,
This review is from: The Lewis Man: Book Two of the Lewis Trilogy (Hardcover)
Fabulous book got very involved with the characters, even better than The Black House cant wait for part 3 of this trilogy to be published
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