Sunset Song - Voted ‘The Best Scottish Book of All Time’

A powerful exploration of love, loss, and resilience

Lewis Grassic Gibbon author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Birlinn General

Published:21st Apr '06

Should be back in stock very soon

Sunset Song - Voted ‘The Best Scottish Book of All Time’ cover

In Sunset Song - Voted ‘The Best Scottish Book of All Time’, Chris Guthrie faces the challenges of rural life and the impact of war, showcasing resilience and strength.

Set against the backdrop of early 20th century Scotland, Sunset Song - Voted ‘The Best Scottish Book of All Time’ tells the poignant story of Chris Guthrie, a young woman torn between her deep-rooted love for her rural life and the allure of education and broader horizons. The novel paints a vivid picture of the harsh realities of farm life, intertwined with the beauty of the Scottish landscape. As Chris navigates her choices, readers are drawn into her emotional journey, experiencing her struggles and triumphs as she seeks to carve out her identity amidst societal expectations.

The narrative takes a dramatic turn with the outbreak of the First World War, which leaves Chris's community shattered and her personal life irrevocably changed. The devastation forces her to confront her values and the strength of her spirit. Through loss and hardship, Chris embodies resilience, finding solace in her love for the land and the memories of those she has lost. The story highlights the enduring human spirit, showcasing how love and connection can provide the strength needed to endure even the darkest times.

Sunset Song - Voted ‘The Best Scottish Book of All Time’ is not just a tale of personal struggle; it is a celebration of a way of life that is slowly fading. Grassic Gibbon's lyrical prose and deep character development make Chris Guthrie an unforgettable heroine, whose story resonates with anyone who has faced the challenges of choosing between duty and desire.

'Sunset Song is my favourite book of all time'

-- Nicola Sturgeon MSP, First Minister of Scotland

'One of the five best Scottish novels of all times'

-- Ian Rankin * The Wall Street Journal *

'I've just re-read Sunset Song, and its great gripping hybrid of melodrama and realism has left me scorched ... Grassic Gibbon's language in the Quair freed me to think language could do anything and everything, could be poetic and realist and dark and soaring and local and strange all at once, with sentences longer than breath; but still all about breathing, or how the heart works'

-- Ali Smith

'The book and their heroine deserve their place in history. There is no better description of the way all these young men from small villages went off to fight in a war, which most of them didn’t understand, and from which so many never returned. That is one of the reasons it carries so much resonance ... he [Grassic Gibbon] was responsible for creating a masterpiece which will live forever'

-- Vivien Heilbron

'Chris Guthrie is one of the great women of 20th century fiction ... he [Grassic Gibbon] portrays the cataclysmic impact of the war on a generation and their expectations ... Sunset Song is a lament – and a cry of anger, too'

-- Jim Naughtie * The Guardian *

'Sunset Song is regularly voted Scotland's favourite book in public polls, is acclaimed across the world, and remains the most evocative work ever written about the Mearns'

* Press & Journal *

'That flinty Scottish wit – which I experienced first in the books and later recognised when I studied there – flies off the pages in dark sparks'

-- Bill Clegg * Independe

ISBN: 9781904598664

Dimensions: 195mm x 130mm x 20mm

Weight: 280g

288 pages

New edition