O Caledonia, Elspeth Barker
O Caledonia, Elspeth Barker
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O Caledonia

Author: Elspeth Barker

Narrator: Eilidh Beaton

Unabridged: 6 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/20/2022


Synopsis

In the tradition of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, a darkly humorous modern classic of Scottish literature about a doomed adolescent growing up in the mid-19th century—featuring a new introduction by Maggie O’Farrell, award-winning author of Hamnet.

Janet lies murdered beneath the castle stairs, attired in her mother’s black lace wedding dress, lamented only by her pet jackdaw…

​Author Elspeth Barker masterfully evokes the harsh climate of Scotland in this atmospheric gothic tale that has been compared to the works of the Brontës, Edgar Allan Poe, and Edward Gorey. Immersed in a world of isolation and loneliness, Barker’s ill-fated young heroine Janet turns to literature, nature, and her Aunt Lila, who offers brief flashes of respite in an otherwise foreboding life. People, birds, and beasts move through the background in a tale that is as rich and atmospheric as it is witty and mordant. The family’s motto—Moriens sed Invictus (Dying but Unconquered)—is a well-suited epitaph for wild and courageous Janet, whose fierce determination to remain steadfastly herself makes her one of the most unforgettable protagonists in contemporary literature.

About Elspeth Barker

In her career as a novelist and journalist, Elspeth Barker wrote for The IndependentThe Observer (London), The Sunday Times (London), London Review of Books, and many others. Elspeth also taught Latin at what she described as a naughty girls’ school on the Norfolk coast and worked as a tutor and lecturer in creative writing at the Norwich School of Art and Design. She published her first novel, O Caledonia, at the age of fifty-one. O Caledonia was awarded the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize. Elspeth was married to the poet George Barker and she died in 2022.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Andy

Brilliantly written, but not for me. Too bleak, and the characters were just AWFUL.......more

Goodreads review by Emily

[URL not allowed] A stunning hidden gem on the dark side of adolescence and reputation in 20th century Scotland. Dark, unearthly, and filled the mystical moodiness of desire, impulse, and daydreams, we follow the unloved and unbreakable Janet, as she navigates sibling rivalry, soci......more

Goodreads review by Karen

Well, this was certainly a different sort of story! A gothic coming of age story set in the wilds of Scotland. It was very atmospheric, dark, and funny. Set in a remote castle.. At the very start of the story..Janet, the oldest sibling, the wayward girl, is found murdered in a bloody heap near the stair......more

Goodreads review by Shawn

In sentences bursting with images and perfectly audacious words; in paragraphs that unfurl book-length narratives; with quirky characters deeply familiar as if spun from dreams; Elspeth Barker tells a simple, sad, joyous story of Janet, an odd duck of a Scottish girl, understood by no one, a misfit......more