'A set of poignant, beautifully written stories written with a clear eye and a stout heart. Barnby captures her characters in moments of change and personal transformation, and draws them carefully and with pathos. I loved reading about them.' ~ Cal Flyn
The cornucopia of short stories that Gabrielle Barnby has written for Orkney and Outwith haunt long after the book is laid aside. A young girl bonds with her disturbed neighbor - a woman who nightly walks into the sea; lonliness haunts a wealthy woman questioning a decision made long ago; unspoken passion lies bewteen a woman and one whom she must not love; time travel with Orkney witches, float out to sea with an uncanny mother and daughter and take slow steps toward healing with a widowed taxi driver. These stories are by turns disturbing and winsome, with relationships portrayed in all their uncomfortable variety and unreasonable hope.
The tales unfold within remarkable variety of settings and lifestyles. Whether as exotic as the Orkney Islands or as seemingly common as a city street ... in forests, at the seaside, on a lonesome train ride at Christmastime or in Basilica San Frediano, these are thoughtful, deeply beautiful stories. Crafted with the knowledge of a scholar and the heart of a poet, the inner strummings set in motion by these stories will remain long in the reader's heart.
