Silver Bough [Hardcover]

Neil M. Gunn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1985

At the heart of The Silver Bough is a cairn on a knoll surrounded by standing stones. This is of professional interest to an archaeologist, around whom the story revolves. The life-enhancing qualities of the crofting family with whom he lodges and the quiet tenor of Highland life bear a curious similarity to his speculations on how 'the cairn people' lived in the distant past. His ideas spread outwards like ripples in a loch, fascinating his colleagues and giving some meaning to the life of a neighbouring landowner, who is mentally scarred from his experiences in the War. The plot of the book is imaginative and intricate, and includes the mystery of skeletons found in a cist in the cairn. As the dig proceeds, gold is discovered and then disappears. Has it been taken by the lad the archaeologist has been employing and, if so, where is it? The search is on and the standing stone claims its sacrificial victim.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Well known in his native Scotland, Gunn's imaginative works are beginning to appear in the U.S. This novel, written in 1948, is the third issued by Walker, following Blood Hunt and Key of the Chest . The complex plot fuses Gunn's fascination with archeology and spiritual themes. Archeologist Simon Grant arrives in a Scottish village to excavate a prehistoric burial cairn. Assisted by Andie, a simple, almost mute young man of great strength, Grant soon discovers the skeletons of a mother and child, then a huge crock of gold. When the gold disappears, Grant assumes that Andie has hidden it in a primitive attempt to protect the treasure. The ensuing search through the Scottish highlands becomes a spiritual quest for Grant, linking ancient times with the life around him. Gunn's prose is rich and lyrical, and his characters reflect his intellectual curiosity--debating science, history, philosophy, religion, in wide-ranging asides that, while engaging, sometimes slow the narrative. On the whole, however, this intricately constructed tale, with its deliberate references to Frazier's classic The Golden Bough , is a provocative work that should serve to interest more American readers in a significant 20th-century author.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Arriving in the Highlands at Clochar House, Simon Grant expects a working vacation: a chance to recover from his recent illness while directing a minor, intriguing archaeological dig of the local cairn and standing stones. Nothing goes quite as anticipated--from the strange attitude of the land's owner to the discovery of a pair of skeletons that seem to dictate Grant's subsequent actions. Grant uncovers a cache of gold artifacts, loses them to the acquisitive instincts of the local simpleton who is his labor force, finds his quiet retreat turned into a media event, and somehow undergoes his own spiritual renewal as he attempts to offer understanding and support to the locals. Though the book suffers from the lack of resolution of certain characters' situations, the portrayal of the Highlands and its people makes this worthwhile.
- Judith A. Gifford, Salve Regina Coll. Lib., Newport, R.I.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Richard Drew Publishing Ltd; New edition edition (March 15, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0862671248
• ISBN-13: 978-0862671242
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds

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