In the 1950s, when her family moves to the Scottish island where her grandad runs a whiskey distillery, Lorrie befriends the bashful Sylvie and is drawn into events that leave Lorrie and the small town wondering who Sylvie really is. Original.
A remote Scottish island tale of a blossoming friendship between an enigmatic local girl and a whisky distiller’s granddaughter
It’s the fifties, and Lorrie is unimpressed when her family moves to the remote Scottish island where her grandad runs a whisky distillery. She befriends Sylvie, the shy girl next door: ‘The slightest smile from Sylvie was a fluffy elephant at the fayre. It had to be won with a clear aim,’ writes Lorrie in her diary. Yet fun-loving Lorrie isn’t sure Sylvie’s is the friendship she wants to win. But as the adults around them struggle to keep their lives on an even keel, the two young women are drawn into a series of events that leave the small town wondering who exactly Sylvie is and what strange gift she is hiding.Readman’s feel for emotional nuance and her natural flair for mixing strangeness with poignant everyday detail make this long-awaited debut a novel to savour.