Clear is a heart warming book of the fragile world we have and do live in. How Two people who do not speak the same language learn to get by. It shows the warmth that one human can have with another under difficult circumstances.

The clearances in Scotland were brutal, when all the gentry with estates decided to replace people with sheep.

Would love a follow on, seeing what happens to the three, Ivan, John and Mary.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book.

A thoroughly enjoyable, if not very quick read. The storyline and the descriptions of the island were just beautiful. The way in which the relationship between John and Ivar developed was a joy to read and despite the book having a LGTBQ+ label, I personally didn’t get this impression and felt that the near love that Ivar feels for John is purely as another human being who has arrived in his world at a time when he was at his most alone.
The ending I also felt was perfect.

Clear begins on an island off the coast of Scotland, where a cow, some sheep and a few chickens roam. Decades ago, people lived there too, but only one tenant, a man in his forties, remains. For years no one has come to collect the rent for the land he uses, and he has grown accustomed to the loneliness. But now a second person enters the story: A minister who has come in an official capacity and who quickly and literally loses his footing, entering into an unusual relationship with a man whose language he doesn't speak and whose life he is about to destroy. As the novel progresses, we learn about the minister's wife, the reasons for his current predicament, and about the mid-19th century Scottish Clearances, when wealthy landowners forcibly evicted and often destroyed entire rural communities.

This is a quiet, powerful novel. Not much is explained at the beginning, and the tableau unfolds slowly (if you can call it that at 150 pages or so.) I really enjoyed how the relationship - first marked by the novelty of being seen, and then developing into a slow understanding - progressed, and how the back story and Mary the wife were introduced. These people felt real and their problems seemed real.

This was almost a five star read - great prose, fantastic construction, clear emotion - but the ending felt a bit rushed. I think it suits the characters, but it all came very suddenly and left me feeling like the book needed maybe another 15 or 20 pages to really do the story justice.

But I am very impressed with Carys Davies and will definitely be picking up her next (and older) books.

Novella springboarded by the Highland clearances of the 19th Century. 3.5 rating raised

Davies has created an interesting fiction here, around two social and political movements of the mid nineteenth century, which also makes certain other nods to earlier fictions about isolation and island lives – I did find myself thinking about Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.

John Ferguson has joined the radical breakaway Free Church of Scotland. He needs money though, to build his community and his church, so finds himself temporarily employed by a rich landowner who is part of the powerful class wreaking devastation on subsistence small-holder farmers. He is sent to a remote fictitious island, far beyond the Shetlands, which now has only one inhabitant, a man whose family have all long moved on and away, emigrated or died, as scratching even the bleakest of livings had become impossible, due to the greed and inhumanity of those absent landlords. Ivar has lived alone, with his horse, Pegi, and a very few other grazing animals. He does not know it, but even this is to be taken away from him, and John is to be the messenger to deliver the news.

There is a further problem. Ivar speaks no English, nor does he speak any mainland Gaelic language. He is one of the very few living speakers of an island language all but gone by the 1840s

My challenge with this book is that though the difficulties and unpredictability of this sort of isolated life are beautifully done, and the tentative friendship between the two men wonderfully and plausibly created, it did feel in some way as if it lost its hold on realism through the detailed and rapid focus on how the two men learned to speak each other’s language enough to explore a wealth of complexity in the period of some 3 and a bit weeks. This was an aspect which felt far less credible, and was at odds with the very physical descriptions of cutting turf, fishing and weaving which were interesting and credible. I think the book foundered a little on the author’s wanting to include far too much of the fruits of her linguistic researches.

Characterisation of her 3 major protagonists, Ivar, John, and Mary, John’s wife back in the mainland, was excellent

This brief yet powerful novel explores a plot similar to Paul Harding's This Other Eden but, in my opinion, outshines it. Instead of the coast of Maine, the story unfolds off the shores of Scotland in the 1840s, a period marked by the removal of communities from islands by the Scottish landed gentry for more profitable endeavors like sheep-rearing.

The protagonist, John, a down-on-his-luck clergyman, accepts a lucrative offer to clear the last inhabitant, Ivar, from an island. However, a twist of fate leads to John being cared for by the very man he was meant to displace. The narrative beautifully delves into the complexities of isolation and companionship, especially as the two characters grapple with language barriers. John's earnest attempt to learn Ivar's language unveils nuances and differences, particularly in weather-related terms, and I really loved that aspect of the novel.

At the same time, we see snapshots of John's wife, Mary, starting to question whether he's been given an unfeasibly task, and so she embarks on a journey to retrieve him from the island. The narrative culminates in a well-earned crescendo, delivering a highly satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended!

Clear is easily one of the best books I read in 2023. Clocking in at about 150 pages, it’s a testament to Carys Davies’ skill that she can give you something that feels more developed and in-depth, with more vibrant characters, than a lot of full-length novels can.

The plot itself is reasonably simple: set amidst the Scottish Clearances of the 19th century, John Ferguson, an impoverished minister for the Free Church of Scotland (a recent breakaway from the Church of Scotland), finds himself tasked with clearing the final occupant, Ivar, off an island around the Shetlands for the landowner. But things don’t quite go to plan: John Ferguson finds himself injured, Ivar doesn’t speak English or Scots, and John’s wife Mary soon discovers there might be more to the task than they were informed of.

What struck me on first reading this one, way back in September, was just how clearly Davies’ words invoked the setting of the Shetlands and the relationships between the characters. This is, I stress, a book that’s only 150 pages long! And yet, in just a few sentences Davies can bring to life the 19th century Scottish Highlands, making you feel like you’re also there on that lonely island alongside Ivar, John and Mary.

That same applies to the characters. There’s only occasional physical description of the characters here, just enough for you to get an idea of them in your mind, but even if there wasn’t, this is a book where, I contend, the sense of character you get from them in their POVs would be enough. I think the mark of a good writer is feeling like you don’t need anything to happen in the book. Simply living with the characters for a while is more than enough. That’s definitely the case here.

I reread this book before writing this review in an attempt to write something that would do this book justice. I’m not sure I’ve managed because, as it turns out, I’m not able to put into words just how much I loved it. You have to experience this book, you have no choice but to, if you want to find out what I’m on about. As for me, I know this is going to be one I’ll be thinking about for a long while to come.

An atmospheric novella set in a remote fictional Scottish island around the time of the Highland Clearances in the mid 19th century. John has given up a secure future to join other minsters in the breakaway Free Church of Scotland. Having no money he takes on a job that involves staying on and surveying a small island then at the end of his stay persuading the lone inhabitant, Ivar, to leave. Most of the action is set on this island where the two keep secrets from each other. However John has a love of languages and decides to try and decipher the strange dialect that Ivar speaks, which leads to then communicating a lot, which John realises is going to make his final task difficult .John’s wife who remains on the Mainland becomes concerned about the reasons that led to John being sent to the island and decides to become involved..
The relationship between two people confined on a small island in very basic habitation is well described and feels very realistic. A discovery by Ivar towards the end of the book makes it look likely that things will come to a violent conclusion and there are quite a few possible outcomes. I was surprised by the ending but i liked it.
I enjoyed reading the book over two evenings and although some of the long descriptions of of the translation of the local dialect were a bit uninteresting, they can be quickly skimmed over.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Absolutely perfect novella and one of my favorite reads of the year. Clear is a stunning example of the novella structure and how it is a perfect art form. Davis packs such a punch in 150 pages with lyrical language and a tender love story Clear has got to be one of the best books coming out in 2024

We follow John who is tasked to evict Ivan the last remaining inhabitant on an island on the very top of Scotland. Ivan is living a very lonely existence until John fumbles his way into his life. It is heartfelt and beautiful and the perfect read for an afternoon.

I am so lucky to have been able to read this one early and I have nothing but praise.

I really liked this actually, it's a lovely story, but it was just so short. I wish it had lingered more on certain moments, fleshed things out a bit. It feels like there are the seeds of an excellent story here, but the length really prevented me from feeling as invested in this story as I would've liked to. I wanted more development, more focus on particular scenes, just MORE in general.

In the 1840s, a poor minister from the new Free Church of Scotland has accepted a job to clear the one remaining islander from a remote island north of Shetland during the Highland Clearances. He leaves behind his wife, Mary, while he does this. Ivar, the islander, comes across the injured body of the minister, John, who has had a fall and tends him back to health, not knowing who he is or why he is there. The two do not speak the same language but a relationship builds over the few weeks John is on the island as he develops a dictionary of Ivar’s dying language.

The book is beautifully written and it’s an interesting story but I was a little frustrated by it, particularly its length. It’s only 160 pages long and to me that just wasn’t enough to do the story justice, especially as a lot of the text was more interested in the words of the island language (the author says the idea came to her after she came across a dictionary such as the one described, and it shows). The relationship between the two develops nicely but we never really get to know them very well – for instance, surely the minister who gets upset at the idea of dancing would have been very conflicted about his developing feelings but it’s never really covered. Mary, John’s wife, sounds like she could have been a far more interesting character as she’s unusual for her time, but she’s almost peripheral and the ending just felt too trite and rushed for me.

I did enjoy this as far as it went but I think I would have enjoyed it far more if it was twice as long and went into a bit more depth.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

#Clear #NetGalley

Scotland in the 184os - a Presbyterian minister is sent to a remote Scottish island to evict the last man living there. Things don't go the way he expects, and he slowly start to bond with the islander. Moving, atmospheric and unexpected.

I read Davies’ previous novella, West, earlier this year and absolutely adored it so I went into this with high expectations – and it did not disappoint. She has created another masterpiece in miniature, a book that is so much grander in scope than you would believe could be squeezed into 160 pages.

It begins, in 1843, with a boat struggling through the waves to reach an isolated island far off the north coast of Scotland. Onboard is John Ferguson, a poor church minister, whose reasons for making this journey are not altogether clear at first. The island’s only (human) inhabitant is Ivar, a man who ekes a living from the bare land and the last remaining speaker of a language that has otherwise been lost to the mists of time. Left behind on the Scottish mainland is John’s wife Mary.

I don’t want to say too much more about the story because part of the joy of this book was seeing how it all unfolds, with all the little unexpected turns and diversions that Davies drops in along the way. At the centre of the story are the relationships between these three people and how human connections can be made regardless of the barriers, whether language or background, that are in the way. It’s a story of people being buffeted by the tides of history, like driftwood in a swelling sea, but by clinging to their basic human decency and kindness never allow themselves to become submerged or sunk. The ending I found to be uplifting and completely unexpected but also in hindsight, somehow, the only ending that made sense.

Davies really is a magnificent writer - her prose is spare but beautiful, unfussy but poetic. She wonderfully manages to conjure a landscape into such vivid life I really felt like I was transported to this island. I could feel the cold wind stinging my face; taste the salt in the air, whipped up off a roaring sea; hear the squelch of waterlogged boots as they struggle through a bog. And that was one actually one of the themes that really stuck with me from this book – the importance that language has in allowing us to comprehend and connect with the natural world around us.

I really thought this book was magnificent – tender and uplifting, dealing with themes of isolation, loss and love.

Clear by Carys Davies, is a historical novel which draws inspiration from two major events in Scottish history: the Highland Clearances, when over several decades in the 18th and 19th centuries, many rural communities of crofters were forcibly evicted by landowners, and the formation of the Free Church of Scotland in 1843, after a schism which saw several ministers leave the established Church of Scotland.

John is one of the rebel ministers. Recently married in his middle age to independent-minded Mary, and facing penury after losing his paid tenure, he accepts a job offered to him by a land manager which requires him to visit a (fictional) remote island beyond the Shetlands to evict its remaining occupant, Ivar. This distant destination is alien to John, the rugged landscape magnificent yet forbidding, the language of Ivar foreign and difficult to understand. For John, this will be a journey of discovery.

Clear’s historical setting is well researched and authentically rendered. Yet Davies is less interested in plot and narrative than in the psychological and emotional interplay between the cast of main characters – John, Mary and Ivar. As in her previous books (I had enjoyed West when I read it some years ago), Davies’ writing is atmospheric, introspective and poetic. This is a slim book with a rich aftertaste.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2023/10/clear-by-carys-davies.html

Ivar, the only remaining inhabitant on a remote Scottish island in the mid nineteenth century, ekes out a basic existence, until he finds an injured man unconscious on the beach. John Ferguson is a clergyman from a break-away church, who out of financial desperation has made the journey to evict Ivar so that sheep may be grazed on the island. Ivar takes Ferguson back to his home and nurses him back to health, and despite the men having no shared language a strong bond develops between them. Meanwhile, Ferguson’s wife Mary becomes increasingly concerned, and time is running out for Ivar. This a is a beautiful, lyrical novella about life beyond convention, the loss of traditional ways of life, how communication and relationships can develop in the most unlikely situations and the ultimate power of love. Davies’s writing is very evocative and sensual, she builds up a wonderful sense of place and small details bring the narrative and characters to life ( Mary’s false teeth, Ivar’s teapot, the photo of Mary that Ivar becomes so attached to until he has another living person to engage with). Unforgettable.

John Ferguson is sent to a remote Scottish Island to evict its only inhabitant. Suffering an accident on the island, the lone Ivar nurses John back to health. Only Ivar speaks a language unknown to John, and so the understanding and empathy becomes more primal. Interspersed is the story of Mary, John's wife, and her life apart from her husband.

Carys Davies' novel is a slow-burn, contemplative and serene masterpiece of controlled, poetical prose. She evokes the wonder and wilderness of rural Scottish Island life, and one can taste the sea air in its pages.

This is another very fine, beautiful novel from a writer that is at the height of her powers.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

Quite captivating. Certainly pulls you back to a period of the past that saw many suffer.
Not a quick page turner, nor a can’t put down book, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

John Ferguson, a Presbyterian minister who is embroiled in the creation of the new Free Church and desperate for money, takes a job which will take him away from all he knows, including his wife, Mary, and leave him on a remote Scottish island, where he is tasked with telling the sole occupant that he must move away - yet Ferguson does not speak the language.

Ivar, living alone on the island since the death of his family, with only his chickens, a cow and a horse for company, is shocked when he comes across an injured Ferguson one day, and takes care of him. Overcome by his sudden need to know this man, for human contact and connection, Ivar and John begin an intense relationship focussed around a dying language and hidden secrets.

Interspersed within this narrative are sections told from the point of view of John’s wife, Mary, left alone to adjust to a new way of living, dependant on the charity and kindness of others while her husband is away.

Davies writes such clear and succinct prose that I was immediately drawn into the story and the inner lives of these men. This is a moving and tender novel and the characters will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. A wonderful book, which cements Davies as one of our best novelists.

Clear takes place in 1843 on a remote island between the Shetland Isles and Norway. John Ferguson is sent to evict the island's sole inhabitant so that the land can be used for sheep farming. John suffers an accident shortly after his arrival and is nursed back to health by Ivar, who doesn't speak a word of English. Despite this, the two men learn to communicate with each other and slowly form a friendship that leaves John questioning his mission. Meanwhile, Mary Ferguson makes her own journey to the island fearing that her husband might be at risk if Ivar refuses to leave his home.

Davies has a sophisticated style of writing reminiscent of Dickens' Great Expectations, which helps to immerse the reader in the historical setting. Her description builds an intricate picture of this remote corner of the world with words from Ivar's now extinct language scattered throughout. The slow pace is best suited to a lazy Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea.

NetGalley's LGBTQIA label is misleading. While it does become appropriate towards the very end of the book, this story does not focus on a romantic relationship between the main characters nor the general experience of being LGBTQIA. This should not be considered a criticism of the book itself, which still tells a thoughtful story, but the misrepresentation creates unmet expectations that ultimately leave the reader disappointed.

Carys Davies' brief novella is set in 1843 against the backdrop of two massive upheavals in Scottish history: the continuing, brutal clearance of its estates by voraciously greedy landlords and the formation of the Free Church of Scotland. Having impoverished himself and his wife, Mary, by resigning his living to become a minister in the breakaway church, John Ferguson reluctantly accepts a lucrative offer preparing the clearance of the last man from an island whose owner wishes to populate with sheep. The day after John lands, Ivar finds him naked and unconscious. As Ivar nurses John back to health, he begins to realise how lonely he’s been, transferring the affections for the picture of Mary he’s found in John’s belongings as they learn each other’s language. With no news of her husband, Mary makes her way to the island, not knowing what she might find.

Although I enjoyed and admired both West and The Mission House, Clear stands head and shoulders above both for me. Davies' author’s note tells us that her novella grew out of her discovery of Jakob Jakobsen’s Norn dictionary, a dialect long since fallen out of use, which seems entirely fitting for a novel marked by its striking use of language. Gorgeous images sing out from elegantly spare prose together with the occasional flash of humour. The ending isn't what I expected at all but it’s a pleasing one which suits the pragmatic and resourceful Mary well.