RRP: £12.99 Details

Save: £0.64 (5%)

FREE Returns

FREE delivery Thursday, 10 August. Details

Or fastest delivery Tomorrow, 8 August. Order within 2 hrs 26 mins. Details

Select delivery location

Only 10 left in stock (more on the way)

££12.35 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Payment

Secure transaction

Dispatches from

Amazon

Sold by

Amazon

Returns

Returnable within 30 days of receipt

Details

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Dispatches from

Amazon

Sold by

Amazon

Returns

Returnable within 30 days of receipt

Item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt

Read full return policy

Add gift options

FREE delivery 11 - 15 August. Details

Select delivery location

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Infinite_Books

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

See this image

Follow the author

Maggie Fergusson

George Mackay Brown Paperback – 19 April 2007

by Maggie Fergusson (Author)

4.8 59 ratings

See all formats and editions

Amazon Price

New from

Used from

Kindle Edition

"Please retry"

£3.99

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

£58.42

£58.40

£8.47

Paperback

"Please retry"

£12.35

£9.39

£1.95

Kindle Edition
£3.99 Read with Our Free App
Hardcover
£58.42

8 Used from £8.47 4 New from £58.40
Paperback
£12.35

13 Used from £1.95 18 New from £9.39

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"£12.35","priceAmount":12.35,"currencySymbol":"£","integerValue":"12","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"35","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"egQVs2cD6ZtIP4uVFrLhwBJOydyKRU0mLn2WFsWJDdofGS2cc8W6FYiSzujePPGUJAP6twxadiL1DAeaDU%2F4PmgJ0uwv0N7YWouHnrhKA%2F87skczUk5KEllgSbJMWlsr","locale":"en-GB","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"£4.84","priceAmount":4.84,"currencySymbol":"£","integerValue":"4","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"84","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"egQVs2cD6ZtIP4uVFrLhwBJOydyKRU0mK%2BiJtf6uZT5yKokriiF7a6IjA8YvuGHAOVwqv31%2BOv82GxgBwTXTowtxq17ENjqp7RjcAGONinIjYjwUDuadds92XsGJMAIhUZA7T31nQM1MA0yfK8joZvXQTY34hTftWuRTWy222rYhck%2F%2Beuz6Tq0Qk21UY2H6","locale":"en-GB","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

George Mackay Brown was one of Scotland's greatest twentieth-century writers, but in person a bundle of paradoxes. He had a wide international reputation, but hardly left his native Orkney. A prolific poet, admired by such fellow poets as Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes and Charles Causley, and hailed by the composer Peter Maxwell Davies as 'the most positive and benign influence ever on my own efforts at creation', he was also an accomplished novelist (shortlisted for the 1994 Booker Prize for Beside the Ocean of Time) and a master of the short story. When he died in 1996, he left behind an autobiography as deft as it is ultimately uninformative.

'The lives of artists are as boring and also as uniquely fascinating as any or every other life,' he claimed. Never a recluse, he appeared open to his friends, but probably revealed more of himself in his voluminous correspondence with strangers. He never married - indeed he once wrote, 'I have never been in love in my life.' But some of his most poignant letters and poems were written to Stella Cartwright, 'the Muse of Rose Street', the gifted but tragic figure to whom he was once engaged and with whom he kept in touch until the end of her short life.

Maggie Fergusson interviewed George Mackay Brown several times and is the only biographer to whom he, a reluctant subject, gave his blessing. Through his letters and through conversations with his wide acquaintance, she discovers that this particular artist's life was not only fascinating but vivid, courageous and surprising.

Print length

384 pages
Language

English
Publisher

John Murray
Publication date

19 April 2007
Dimensions

12.7 x 2.44 x 20.32 cm
ISBN-10

0719566053
ISBN-13

978-0719566059
See all details

Frequently bought together

£12.35

Get it as soon as Thursday, Aug 10

Only 10 left in stock (more on the way).

Sent from and sold by Amazon.

+

The Collected Poems of George Mackay Brown

£15.00

Get it as soon as Thursday, Aug 10

In stock.

Sent from and sold by Amazon.

+

£12.49

Get it as soon as Thursday, Aug 10

Only 7 left in stock (more on the way).

Sent from and sold by Amazon.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your basket.

Try again!

Details

Added to Basket

Some of these items are dispatched sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Highest ratedin this set of productsThis item:
Maggie Fergusson
59
Paperback
£12.35
Best Sellingin this set of products
Brian Murray
43
Paperback
£15.00
Lowest Pricein this set of products
George Mackay Brown
34
Paperback
£7.95
George Mackay Brown
12
Paperback
£11.25
George Mackay Brown
112
Mass Market Paperback
£8.73
Ron Ferguson
24
Paperback
£12.80

Product description

Review

'Other biographies to relish include Maggie Fergusson's life of the poet George Mackay Brown...' ― Boyd Tonkin, Independent

In Maggie Fergusson, Mackay Brown has had the good fortune to find the kind of biographer with whom every writer should be blessed. She writes lucidly, with restraint and without sentimentality. Her affection and sympathy for her subject shine through but she never shirks from showing his darker side. He was a deeply troubled man cursed with melancholia whose legacy was prose and poetry of luminous virtuosity. If there is a better biography of a 20th century Scottish writer I look forward to reading it ― Sunday Herald

'Outstanding... This is an extraordinarily good book; it is sensitive, witty and has an excellent sense of the vitality of the apparently unimportant details that make up lives and characters.' ― Lucy Lethbridge, New Statesman

'An affectionate but clear-sighted biography. Read it alongside his Collected Poems and step into the 'small green world' of [the Orkneys]' ― The Times

'Unmissable' ― Glasgow Herald

'[Fergusson's] biography is infused with love and understanding of the man and his work... she writes with a delicate precision' ― Sunday Times, Jeremy Lewis

'Through his letter and conversations with many friends, Maggie Ferguson discovers that George's life was vivid, courageous and surprising' ― Scottish Field

'He deserves a good biography but has got a magnificent one; sympathetic, affectionate, but not glossing over his weaknesses' ― Allan Massie, Daily Telegraph

'This subtle, sensitive, beautifully-written biography is a superb example of an author wholly in tune with her subject' ― Sunday Telegraph

'His world, in all its wondrous ordinariness, has been brought beautifully to life by Maggie Fergusson's painstakingly faithful labour of love . . . Exquisite and constantly illuminating ' - Sean O'Hagan ― Observer

George Mackay Brown was the most elegiac and profoundly rooted of twentieth-century Scottish writers. Maggie Fergusson's biography is a deftly written and convincingly craggy portrait of this Orcadian genius ― William Dalrymple

'Maggie Fergusson has captured the essence of the man with insight and elegance.' ― Sunday Daily Express (Tom Fullerton)

'An excellent and surprising biography' ― Kathleen Jamie, Guardian

This is an outstanding biography: deeply researched, sympathetic and full of insight into George Mackay Brown's magical ability to make poetry out of the simple ingredients of landscape, history and faith, it brings this extraordinary man to life on every page ― Claire Tomalin

'She has drawn a portrait of this man which is both the perfect companion for a rereading of his works and also a fascinating story in its own right...This is an altogether remarkable book. I know it will be unforgettable, and that it will draw me back to many rereadings...It is that rare thing, a biography which is itself a work of literature, the story not merely of a lonely, weird man in an isolated part of the United Kingdom, but of an inner journey which the reader follows enraptured, every bit as exciting and strange as the life-journeys of men of action.' ― Spectator

Clear, detailed, vigilant, droll and beautifully written, this biography achieves what only the best accounts of a life can: the scent and texture of the departed subject's spirit, and, in this case, the spirit of a very particular place, which Maggie Fergusson conveys with the grace of the born
writer

― Candia McWilliam

This is a truly magnificent achievement. One sign of an outstanding biography is when those who knew - or thought they knew - the subject find surprises and fresh illumination on nearly every page. This beautifully written book evokes both Orkney and the spirit of its master story-teller with a delicate yet unostentatious skill which is the literary equivalent of perfect pitch ... Maggie Fergusson may not have said the last word, but she has stylishly delivered the best and most brilliantly satisfying word so far' ― Herald

'From this unpromising hank of material, Maggie Fergusson has fashioned an affectionate and enlightening life of the poet George Mackay Brown.' ― Literary Review (Andro Linklater )

'A significant monument to an elegiac writer of genuine literary muscle' - Iain Finlayson ― The Times

'An outstanding work of research which no-one interested in George Mackay Brown can afford to be without . . . This is a distinguished example of the art of the biography, beautifully produced in every respect . . . at once sympathetic and professional' ― Orcadian

'And, behold, a miracle! In one of his many letters (and this book makes me long for a big collected edition of his letters) Brown wrote "There must be a secret wisdom inside us all that directs our lives, often against our wills and desires". Maggie Fergusson seems to have tapped into this secret wisdom. She has drawn a portrait of this man which is both the perfect companion for a rereading of his works and also a fascinating story in its own right...She herself writes with a poet's accuracy. The setting of the Orcadian scene in the opening pages is masterly, but she also has the poet's knowledge of when to produce the telling detail....As well as being a preternaturally acute exponent of what makes Brown's poetry work, Maggie Fergusson is wonderfully wise and deep in her explorations of his emotional and religious life.. 'This is an altogether remarkable book. I know it will be unforgettable, and that it will draw me back to many rereadings. It is that rare thing, a biography whi ― Statesman

'After reading this book every reader will feel at home in the harsh, rewarding world of the Orkneys' ― Independent

'Remarkable man. Remarkable art. Fine book that illuminates them both' ― Scotsman

'Strangely, this is what I would call an inspiriting story...and it is very well told' ― Spectator

'Fergusson's biography of Scottish poet George Mackay Brown ignores the modern trend of looking down gleefully from a dunghill height at the subject.' ― Irish Times

'A stimulating and elegantly written biography, an excellent companion to Mackay Brown's "Collected Poems", which were co-edited by... Archie Bevan, and appeared last year from the same publisher, John Murray.' ― The Economist

'Maggie Fergusson treats Brown's sexuality with delicacy and respect' ― Times Literary Supplement

'Loving study' ― Jeremy Lewis, The Sunday Times

'One of the best lives of a poet I have ever read is Maggie Fergusson's George Mackay Brown. She creeps up, not only on her subject, but also on her reader, wooing and cunning. Out of his inner life in a remote place, Fergusson has made a great book about a great man. She is brilliant at understanding the things which did not happen, as well as the things which did, in her subject's life (sex, for example). I seldom feel envy when reading modern books, but I wish I wrote as well as she has done' ― An Wilson, The Observer

'A real treat: a sensitive record of a neglected modern poet that made a convincing argument for his genius' ― Tim Martin, Daily Telegraph

Book Description

One of the most highly acclaimed biographies of 2006 -- now published in paperback

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ John Murray; Reprint edition (19 April 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0719566053
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0719566059
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.7 x 2.44 x 20.32 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 278,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 365 in British Historical Biographies from 1901 Onwards
- 1,975 in Historical Biographies starting 1901
- 2,492 in Biographies on Novelist & Playwrights

Customer reviews:
4.8 59 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Maggie Fergusson

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5

59 global ratings

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Sentinel

Singing Islands

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 July 2011

Verified Purchase

This is a wonderful biography: full of lyrical detail, and with an insight and sensitivity which delivers this self-effacing writer/poet to the reader with a genuine stamp of authenticity. Fergusson covers George's life in remarkable detail throughout, both within Orkney, and his adventures 'sooth' at Newbattle College, Edinburgh University, Rose Street pub/poet 'society', Aberdeen, Ireland et al. Although his creative/dissolute Edinburgh days are well drawn, Fergusson is able to magic an authentic sense of Orkney life, with its precious clear light and fragile Spring/Summer days, and the dark, roaring monster of winter, which grips both body and soul in a chill embrace.

The biography charts a similar pattern of 'rise and fall' in George's creative, and love life, and has a richly supporting cast of poets and writers from Scotland and elsewhere. The text is very well referenced, and interleaved with extracts from his and others work, which is exquisitely chosen to illustrate the points she makes, and has a deeply enriching quality. Drink, religion, love, illness and depression, all weave threads throughout this satisfying tapestry of George's life. At the last though, it is the clear sense of Orcadian magic, a spare, austere beauty, which shimmers in these pages, just as it does in the poetry and the prose of this incomparable island bard. For me, this comes as such a relief after the disappointment of George's bland 'autobiography' For the Islands I Sing: An Autobiography Essential reading.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

David Lusher

Orkney's Finest Weaver of Tales and Poetry

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 September 2007

Verified Purchase

This is a highly readable biography of the extraordinary writer that was George Mackay Brown. He lived most of his life in Orkney, but his novels, short stories and poetry have the complexity, language, imagination and spirituality of a much-travelled man. GMB did not have an easy life and remained puzzled by (and uncomfortable with) his celebrity. He did not enjoy good health for much of his life; he lived simply and was a modest man but not one of those tortured souls grinding out poetry in guilt-ridden angst. He was more complex than he appeared, with a spiritual, almost holy, feel for the past that he was able to share through the prism of Orkney. I learned much from this biography, which dips into a range of sources, both personal and published. It is wonderful to see where some of GMB's inspiration came from. He was certainly one of Britain's greatest poets (and that's saying something). His writings are well worth exploring - they really are a joy. This well-written biography is a good introduction to the man, but you are likely only to find the real GMB through his writing, and that is a journey well worth making. Highly recommended.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

hillbank68

a wonderful biography and a most involving read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 April 2007

Verified Purchase

This book was shortlisted for the Costa (formerly Whitbread) Prize, and it comes with the imprimatur of Claire Tomalin, foremost of modern biographers - 'an outstanding biography ... it brings this extraordinary man to life on every page'. I found it absolutely marvellous. In his posthumously published autobiography, 'For the Islands I Sing', George Mackay Brown was highly selective, as he was quite entitled to be. This book fills in many, many gaps, it is beautifully written, it holds the attention on every page and, by so doing, it gives the reader a fuller and more satisfying apprecation of the work of this unique and uniquely wonderful Orkney writer. In particular, and most sensitively, it explores his relationships with women, and they form a key and very poignant element in the book. The relationship between life and work is underpinned by extensive, judicious quotation, and so often the poems or parts of poems seem to grow out of the page, so well has the biographer done her job. I am so pleased that the job has been so well done. GMB deserved it.

19 people found this helpful

Helpful

Miso

Not enough to add to his own autobiography?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 February 2015

Verified Purchase

I have to say that, having read a lot of GMB's books recently, this felt a bit thin. In particular, there was so much here was in fact directly quoted from his own autobiography that I felt slightly shortchanged. He wrote with such a lyrical magic and that felt dampened down here, without adding too much to how he viewed his friends and his life and his implulses in his own words - some speculation on his sexuality but really not adding much I wouldn't have drawn from reading his book. Perhaps it's more disappointing to come to directly from what he has written but, whilst this is perfectly readable and well-written, it didn't add enough for me and left me feeling I'd know him more had I invested the time in rereading his own works.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

R G Coppen

Not oustanding

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 December 2013

Verified Purchase

Perhaps I am being unfair to Maggie Ferguson. Her understanding of George Mackay Brown gets beneath his veneer but she does so in a language which does not do him justice. I had to struggle with her english as it is so thin. This contrasts with the richness of the poet's words and in a way detracts from her scholarship. I think too that her admiration of GMB got in the way as the book felt at times like a eulogy rather than an academic criticism. But again,perhaps I am being unfair as her book is biographic in essence and an introduction to his work. A frustrasting read as I wanted to be taken into the heart of GMB. This I will have to do for myself so perhaps the book serves its purpose.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Xavier

Definitive Account of A Life

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 September 2017

Verified Purchase

Beautiful and sensitively written account of the life of a great Scottish writer George Mackay Brown. Maggie Fergusson places Brown in the landscape of Orkney and the streets of Edinburgh. Her writing is superb and the account so well put together

One person found this helpful

Helpful

John G. Millar

Fascinating

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 August 2009

Verified Purchase

I think the first I heard of GMB was when he died. Since then my awareness has grown and I wish I'd known more sooner. This biography does a wonderful job of bringing him back to life. It's obviously a work of love based on massive research. There won't be a better biography.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

pammie

Beautifully written biography

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 March 2013

Verified Purchase

Maggie Fergusson has painted a vivid picture both of the man humself and the landscape that shaped him. I recommend this book.

Helpful

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	AbeBooks Books, art & collectables	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Download Audiobooks	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	DPReview Digital Photography	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations

Amazon Home Services Experienced pros Happiness Guarantee	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands

Amazon Warehouse Deep Discounts Open-Box Products	Amazon Business Service for business customers	Whole Foods Market We Believe in Real Food

Follow the author