Emotional Geology

Imagine living here.  Linda Gillard's novel, Emotional Geology published by Transita Publishing, is set partially on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, though most of the story takes place in a remote island community called Uist in the Outer Hebrides Islands (is that Hebrides...Hebridean?  Sorry, I'm a Plains States girl...we don't get this sort of view).  I am sure I have mentioned before that if I could live anywhere it would be somewhere like this.  I'm in love with a place I have never even visited.

Emotional Geology is the perfect comfort read.  It has been frigidly cold (seriously frigid!), there is nothing but dirty, dingy snow to look at outside, and where there is no snow there is a thin layer of dirt covering every surface.  Not terribly pleasant.  For the last few days, however, I have had a wonderful place and inviting story to escape into.  Emotionally damaged Rose Leonard has come to Uist to set her life straight.  She's a single mother of a now grown daughter who spent years in a difficult relationship.  She is struggling to control her mental illness.  The tiny community of Uist takes Rose in, and there she meets Calum Morrison, a younger man with a few skeletons in the closet of his own.  Fairly seamlessly the story goes from the present to moments in Rose's past until we understand exactly why she ended up the way she did.  Eventually Rose and Calum's stories will meet and cross and come together again in surprising ways.

Aside from the descriptions of the island (Rose's small house is quite near the beach--wouldn't that be heavenly?), Rose happens to be a textile artist, and anything having to do with needlework is of particular interest to me.  When Rose would talk about her work I kept having visions of her making something like what you would see in this magazine--the sort art I only dream of making.  Emotional Geology was a thoroughly readable novel for me.  Once I fell into the story I had to read through to the end as Rose and Calum's stories were so compelling.  As a little side note, I really love the cover design of this book.  It really reflects the feeling of the story.  I have been told, "The cover is a photo of Rannoch Moor on the Scottish mainland, one of the most desolate places in Scotland. The bus from Skye to Glasgow travels across Rannoch Moor and the EG tree is very easy to spot in the landscape."  I have her second novel, A Lifetime Burning, already in the TBR pile.    

Comments

[Dorothy W.]

This does sound quite good -- I'll keep it in mind when I need a comfort read.

[kimbofo]

Oh wow. I've been to the Isle of Skye twice and let me just say it is the most beautiful place in the entire world. The scenery there is life-affirming.

I've also been to Rannoch Moor -- if you've ever seen the film "Trainspotting" the lads go on a very depressing day trip there -- and it is very desolate, especially if it is raining.

I must keep my eye out for this book. Sounds lovely!

[kimbofo]

Sorry -- me again.

If you like characters that do needlework/quilting you should try Nicholas Rinaldi's Between Two Rivers (recently reviewed on my blog) as one of the characters there is a quilter. This book is also set in Manhattan, and I know you were looking for suggestions for New York books not that long ago... so you'd be killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.

[Linda Gillard]

I'm so pleased you enjoyed it, Danielle. Thank you so much for your review. I hope you'll manage to visit some Hebridean islands one day. Those mountains are what I see (from a greater distance) from my windows here on Skye.

Kimbofo, I too have visited Rannoch Moor in the pouring rain with 2 small children in tow. There's a good Scots word to describe it: dreich (pronounced "dreech" with the -ch soft as in "loch".) I have to admit it's not an experience I've been anxious to repeat. ;-)

[Litlove]

Great to read your review, Danielle! I haven't read this one yet and am very interested by other's opinions. I think it has a lovely cover, too!

[iliana]

So glad to hear you enjoyed it. It sounds like a perfect comfort read. I will have to put this one on my list.

[polaris]

That is a beautiful place! Desolate, yes, but beautiful. Being immersed in 'Tehanu' at present, I cannot help but think that it bears a likeness to the Isle of Gont!

I like the name, 'Emotional Geology' - it is unusual for a fictional novel. Thanks for the review.

[Danielle]

Dorothy--This is a nice quick read...especially since I have been in the mood lately for escapism!
Kimbofo--The Isle of Skye sounds really lovely--the descriptions in the book were great. Thanks for the heads up on the Rinaldi book--I will have to go and read your review!
Linda--I'm looking forward to reading your other book as well. What a wonderful view to have--I would be quite happy to look at that every day!! :)
Litlove--I enjoyed this story--and I keep thinking how lovely it must be there. I am a sucker for a nice bookcover!
Iliana--I am very much in the mood these days for comfort reads--I am probably reading too many of them lately!
Polaris--I could live in a place like this very easily. It would certainly beat the dingy unattractive view I have! I have never read any Ursula Le Guin. I saw you were reading her--I should really give her a try.

[Carl V.]

I'd love to live there...provided I had all the creature comforts, high speed internet access, and a bookstore close by! ;)

[Kate S.]

Very nice review Danielle. I will definitely look this one up. I've been to Skye as well (via that bus from Glasgow!) and thought it a glorious place. I'm not sure when I'll get there again in person so in the meantime it would be a happy alternative to travel to that corner of the world in fiction.

[NyssaNeala]

Great review! I am also in love with places I have never been, namely Ireland and Oregon.

It's too bad that most beach-side cottages these days cost more than 1 mil!

[Danielle]

Carl--I wonder how long I could go without...at least with a computer (if nothing else) you could shop online!
Kate--Thank heavens for books or I would never go anywhere at all!! I really would love to visit this place!
NyssaNeala--I have the same problem. I have been to Ireland (I literally cried when I had to come home!), so I am with you there! I think I would like to live in Oregon, too. As for the cost of living by the ocean....well, I can always fantasize!

[Ex Libris]

Glad you liked this Danielle - I did, too.

[Linda Gillard]

Danielle & NyssaNeala - living by the ocean in the Hebrides is not expensive. Few people want to live this cut off from mainland Scotland and so you get a lot for your money when you buy property. You could always try renting somewhere for a holiday! That's how I started and I kept going back year after year. Now I live on Skye.

[John Kirriemuir]

I live on Berneray in the Outer Hebrides, an island connected to the Uists (which is in fact a chain of islands) by causeway.

House prices have shot up and continue to go up; the days where you could get a big modern house for under 100K are long gone. I disagree that it's cut off; we are 40 minutes from the airport, and the flight is 45 minutes to Glasgow - I've gone from my house to a hotel in San Francisco on the same day quite easily.

We do, by the way, have some of the best beaches in the world:

http://silversprite.wordpress.com/tag/beaches/

There are some things, granted, we don't have. Traffic, pollution, crowds, industrial noise, crime are some that come to mind.

[Linda Gillard]

Hi John! Yes, in many respects you are less cut off on Berneray than I am on Skye. It's two & a half hours' drive to Inverness airport for me.
I too don't miss noise or crime or that atmosphere of aggression that seems to permeate cities. I can stand it for about 2 days then I need to get back to the silence.