Customer Reviews

Hawkfall: and other stories

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Mackay Brown adds to his reputation as a insightful bard of the ghosts of past and present, isolation and loss, the uncertainty of the future, and the yearning for love. All this is accomplished within an island setting, with the location mirroring the internal struggles and isolation of his sympathetically drawn characters. In this way, the particular becomes the universal, as the reader recognises the essential truths at the core of these haunting tales.
From his stone age 'standing stone' tale, through his returning ghost from the '45' rebellion, up to the present, his compassionate eye gently draws the frail, broken nature of flawed humanity, yet from this unpromising material there sometimes come wonders, whether of endurance, or succour, love and kindness. These are dark, but also healing and redeeming tales, laced with a modest magic. Beautifully told, spare and moving stories about darkness and light. Strongly recommended. If you enjoy this collection, other wonders await in A Calendar of Love and Other Stories or A Time to Keep. Happily there are further short story collections, novels, poetry and more from this gentle master.