- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Headline Review Paperback; First Thus edition (4 Sep 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0755325044
- ISBN-13: 978-0755325047
- Product Dimensions: 13 x 2.6 x 19.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 368,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
So effortlessly done you almost forget you are readine a book at all...she can do funny, sad, adgy or domestic with equal panache, and remain utterly convincing throughout --The Times
Review
Only the hard of heart will find themselves unengaged by Fergus's life story, or unmoved by the novel's denouement
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The story explores the contrasts between the people and places around a Scottish fishing village and those in London. In one, they are rich in spirit, and in the other, well, the opposite really.
Fergus, the West Highland teenager, screws up good and proper, almost killing his girlfriend into the bargain. He betrays his mates, his mother, and the memory of his father. He flees to London, armed only with his camera. After some tough times in a squat, his talent is eventually spotted, and he enters the world of the rich and pretentious.
The book is well written and easy to follow, despite the jumping back and forth in time and place. This is an enjoyable read. If you have come out of a small, close-knit community into the big, wide world that surrounds us all, the scenes described in this book will feel very familiar to you.
Fergus, the West Highland teenager, screws up good and proper, almost killing his girlfriend into the bargain. He betrays his mates, his mother, and the memory of his father. He flees to London, armed only with his camera. After some tough times in a squat, his talent is eventually spotted, and he enters the world of the rich and pretentious.
The book is well written and easy to follow, despite the jumping back and forth in time and place. This is an enjoyable read. If you have come out of a small, close-knit community into the big, wide world that surrounds us all, the scenes described in this book will feel very familiar to you.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'd read this author's 'Left Bank' and was a bit disappointed by it but I decided to give her a second chance with this one. I'm glad I did. The prologue makes clear Fergus succeeds in his career, but the first half of the book is about his childhood on the Scottish West coast and then what happens to him when he runs away from home after an accident. This is not the usual smooth, shallow rags to riches story. His childhood is beautifully portrayed and the language really brings it to life. The ambiguous sexuality of his early days in London is also excellent.
The problems Fergus encounters in his rise to fame and how he still carries the scars, mental and physical, from his childhood are well described without indulging in navel gazing. The characters are very realistic and three dimensional as is the artistic world in the latter half of the book. I loved it and once I'd started reading I couldn't put it down.
The problems Fergus encounters in his rise to fame and how he still carries the scars, mental and physical, from his childhood are well described without indulging in navel gazing. The characters are very realistic and three dimensional as is the artistic world in the latter half of the book. I loved it and once I'd started reading I couldn't put it down.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This excellent, well-written book is not chick lit; to classify it as such is an insult to Kate Muir's writing. West Coast is funny, sad, poignant and insightful. It is highly evocative of childhood in Scotland as well as adult life in London. I highly recommend this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An unexpected treat!
Having picked this book up on a whim I was not sure how much I would enjoy it. The first chapter wasn't particuarly engaging to me, but I continued on and am very glad I did. Read more
Published 9 months ago by If nobody spoke of remarkable things...
Intellectual Chick Lit
I really enjoyed this book. Easy to read, good pace, interesting characters but a little predictable! I don't usually read chick lit but Katie Muir writes a good story!
Published on 17 Jan 2010 by Chickpea
A really good light read
This was a really pleasant surprise - I'm not a chick lit fan, really enjoyed the characters and their complexities, the down to earth nature and the colour of the characters... Read more
Published on 27 May 2009 by Gael Pawson
YOU TAKE THE HIGH ROAD AND I'LL TAKE THE LOW ROAD.
Excellent. I'm new to Kate Muir's writing and had this novel recommended to me by a friend. Not quite Scottish Noir, but near enough. Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2009 by HS
In love with Fergus
I really loved this book. Kate Muir really catches the essence of childhood and growing up in the early parts of the book and it develops and leaves the reader with a good feeling... Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2008 by Miss
My own life and hopes amplified
My girlfriend picked up this book in a shop and said, "oh, Chris... you'd better read this" - it bore resemblance to a sprawling epic I'd been trying to write for several years. Read more
Published on 21 Sep 2008 by Chris M. Dooks
Daily Express review
'This, her third novel, shows Muir starting to rival William Boyd for charm, wit, style and intelligence.'
Graham Caldwell, Daily Express
Graham Caldwell, Daily Express
Published on 8 Sep 2008 by R. Hulbert
Read it!
This is a wonderful book which I highly recommend. Kate Muir writes about a Scottish childhood in the 1970s on the West Coast of Scotland with great tenderness. Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2008 by AReaderInEngland
Fantastic!
West Coast is a fantastic read, which will come as no surprise to anyone who follows Kate Muir's work through her column in the Times Magazine or her previous books, including the... Read more
Published on 27 May 2008 by anonymous
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