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A clear path in life is not always obvious. It comes with both the expected as well as the unexpected steps required to fulfill the life we thought we knew was always meant to be. This is the precarious situation two men find separately and together on a remote Scottish island.
In her new novel “Clear,” Carys Davies uses a period of upheaval in Scottish history as the foundation for her story: the Scottish Clearances and the Great Disruption in the Scottish Church of 1843. And with this history as its backdrop, two men will forge for understanding amidst harsh elements and hidden agendas.
Davies is an award-winning author of two previous novels and two short-story collections. She garnered the Northern Writers’ Award for fiction and a Cullman fellowship at the New York Public Library. Born in Wales, Davies previously resided in Chicago and New York. She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
John Ferguson, an impoverished minister is seeking a new beginning for himself, his wife Mary and his faith. Ferguson is one of many who walked away from their ministry to form the Free Church of Scotland. Struggling to raise funds for his new congregation Ferguson accepts an assignment from a landowner to travel to a remote island. Once there he is to survey the land to deem it adequate to raise sheep and then clear the island of its sole inhabitant.
That sole inhabitant is Ivar whose family departed many years ago. Living in a stone hut, Ivar spends his days embracing a routine of tending to his animals, meager garden and surveying the island for the memories of his family and a past the island embraces and reveals with every step. He is a large, quiet and resourceful man who speaks Norn, a Scottish island language that, too, will soon be lost to time.
While her husband is on a ship bound with both duty and responsibility, Mary lives day-by-day trying to meek out an existence with the help of others while her husband is away. She eventually realizes the potential perils John may be faced with in fulfilling his task. Determined to right this uneasiness, Mary finds a way to travel to the island and confront whatever is there to greet her unexpected arrival.
For his mission, along with his personal papers and a calotype of his wife, John also carries a pistol given to him by the landowner who assigned him his task. Now on the island safely, John has been given a month to complete that task and return. But an accident will change that timeline forever. John is found by Ivar unconscious on the beach after having fallen off a ledge while surveying the island. It is here, while under Ivar’s gentle care, not understanding his language and conflicted over his mission, John now questions why he is there.
Over time the two will develop a strong attachment to one another and will strengthen their connection by forming their own language built over time and trust. Here is where Davies shines with lyrical prose that sits the reader within that small, damp space that is a stone hut — constantly buffeted by wind and rain — to sit with these two complete strangers and watch from the shadows as a bond is formed through the discovery of ancient words and their meaning.
This exceptional story is driven by the three narratives of John, Mary and Ivar that when combined presents a perspective tinged by fear, angst of the times and that slow ticking internal clock they all share of desperation amidst isolation. Yet from within, there is a connectedness between all three that clearly finds the light and dominates the story. At only 185 pages in length this book may be sparse in pages but it is truly dense in both the language and fabric of two distinct lives coalescing in isolation to find respect for one another, a shared sense of commitment and ultimately companionship and love. It is a poignant story where solitude facilitates connection.
“Clear”
By Carys Davies
Scribner, 2024, hardcover $24.00