Description

In the shadow of a war that rages through Europe, brothers Calum and Neil work to gather pine cones in the grounds of a Scottish estate. When Calum releases two mutilated rabbits from a snare, he comes face to face with Duror, the gamekeeper. In retaliation, in the depths of the wood, Duror lays a trap for the cone-gatherers.

Neil prophesises that forces of evil will encroach upon the harmony of their lives. It is a prophesy that comes true when Duror commits an act so brutal it destroys all sense of humanity in the once thriving wood. Powerful and unforgettable, Robin Jenkins’ masterpiece is a haunting story of love and violence, and an investigation of class-conflict, war and envy.

Publisher Review

Let me alert everyone to the best-kept secret in modern British literature. If you love the novel; if you are interested in books that are humane and wise, not slick and cynical; then treat yourself this year to some Robin Jenkins — Andrew Marr Like all great masters, his skill is lightly worn, his sentences singing with what he does not say * * The Times * * A masterpiece of concision and terrible pathos — Isobel Murray Few novels in our heritage have the bell-like harmonies of this book . . . it has a strange haunting poetic quality, conjuring from a few props a fable of eternal significance — Iain Crichton Smith