The Incomers

"The Incomers is a graceful, searching tale of a stranger in a strange land. Its emotional resonance and narrative sweep fascinate to the end." Alan Bissett, author of Boyracers, Death of a Ladies Man, The Moira Monologues and Pack Men. "an accomplished debut novel ... The Incomers is a comment on the universality of prejudice as well as an emotive work of fiction." Alastair Mabbott, The Herald. In 1966 Ellie and her baby son Nat arrive in Scotland from west Africa to set up home with Ellie's Scottish estate factor husband. The only black faces most of the population of the small Fife village of Hollyburn have seen outside of the TV up to that point, their arrival causes something of a stir. The Killearn author was taking something of a risk with the subject matter of her debut novel, taking on something that could so easily have gone so wrong in so many ways. Thankfully McPartlin manages to avoid the booby traps, creating in Ellie a character who is engaging, sympathetic and above all very real. The same goes for the villagers themselves, where ideas about the newest face in town are divided in ways that feel perfectly convincing. Some you might say are more bigoted than others, but nowhere among them is there the torch-wielding, foaming at the mouth racist that might have stirred the reader's blood, but would otherwise have brought a cartoon quality to proceedings. Ellie is never entirely friendless, getting on fine with cook and housekeeper Maggie Watson and forging something of a bond with fellow outsider, 10 year old English girl Mary - though this friendship will soon prove more difficulty than blessing. Most of the racism as such is understated, even unconscious on the part of the perpetrators, and it's interesting to see how easy it is to follow Ellie's husband James's line of just "giving it time", before realising these are the words of a well-meaning but ultimately weak individual. McPartlin's master stroke is the inclusion between chapters of phone conversations between two unnamed villagers. Under the heading "The Pairty Line" they show how attitudes towards Ellie change over time as well as illustrating how she's hardly the only one subject to local gossip - and adding a hint of gloriously venomous humour to proceedings. The way several strands are left unresolved at the novel's close might leave some readers dissatisfied, but again I found it entirely believable. Ellie's journey is not over by the final page. At most she is at the end of the beginning. Graceful, delicate stuff that masterfully builds as it goes, painting a picture of a time, place and people that is never less than engrossing. Gregor White, Stirling Observer Short Listed for the Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award 2012