91 Books Like The Stornoway Way

As a kid, I was hooked on the vast wide-open freedom of this story. The notions of hidden treasure maps, buried fortunes, stealthy smugglers and dangerous pirates affected me in profoundly positive ways, stimulating a wanderlust and a love of adventure.

Although Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson set this swashbuckling tale on the south coast of England and on the elusive “Treasure Island” in the Caribbean, it was inspired by his childhood experiences in Scotland, most notably trips with his dad to rocky islands and promontories (RLS’s father was a lighthouse engineer who designed and built many iconic lighthouses).

When my father took the five-year-old me to The Admiral Benbow en route to a family holiday in Cornwall, I was amazed to find that the inn was a real place. It felt bristlingly alive to me, for this was the same inn where Billy Bones had lodged with the treasure… show more.

Whilst I’ve enjoyed most of Irvine Welsh’s books, The Acid House (a collection of short stories) is my favourite because it so accurately crystallises a particular culture, place and time.

The stories are set in Edinburgh and its environs during a period when I was living in a village nearby. My familiarity with the settings made The Acid House feel intimate, sometimes unsettlingly so. I love the way each story blends the real and the surreal. There are drugs and booze galore, of course, as well as brutality and revenge, but the author’s savvy wit and incisive dialogue give these tales gravitas, authenticity and philosophical depth.

I laughed when a couple of years ago I witnessed “Scotland’s top cop” (in the spoof police documentary Scot Squad) sum up Irvine Welsh’s written output as “monkey gibberish” – the barely concealed glee with which that phrase was delivered by comedian Jack… show more.

As an 11-year-old I read Wee Macgreegor for the first time and thought it was the funniest book ever written.

I cried laughing at several parts. The dialogue sparkles with old-Glasgow wit and wisdom. John Joy Bell’s love of the Scots dialect is evident throughout.

The book is a collection of tales featuring the titular character, a wonder-filled wee boy growing up in Glasgow during the 1930s. There’s an endearing innocence in the writing. Playfulness too. It’s a glorious snapshot of Scottish life a century ago.

I love this – Tom’s only published novel – not just because of the author’s impressive command of brevity (a prolific poet and short-story writer, he is a master of saying more with less) but also because his poet’s love of language shines through in the dialogue: each character has unique verbal habits and idiosyncrasies, just as people in real life have.

Tom’s characters are the sort of folk I want to hang out with: philosophers, all; originals; one-offs; salt of the Earth. There’s also a wolf angle. Wolves have always resonated with me. As a child, I photographed them wherever I could (mainly wildlife parks). In Nahatlatch Valley, British Columbia, where I holidayed with my family when I was seven, I lay in bed in the log cabin each night, howling along with the wolves whose song filled the forest outside.

As a nineteen-year-old on holiday in Spain, I… show more.

As someone who spent much of his teenage years in the port of Stornoway, I was also acutely aware of the power and impact of the fishing industry on the community.

Neil M. Gunn’s novel is a celebration of this, telling the story of a young fisherman in a powerfully dramatic and poetic way. It is also a fantastic introduction to the rest of his work. 

The Black House is a Scottish-based mystery featuring the remote Hebridean island of Lewis. I loved how May captures the essence of this island in this trilogy and uses actual historical and cultural events to weave the plot. Each of the Scottish Isles has its own unique culture, and I love how May explores this through the interactions between the characters from Lewis and mainland Scotland. 

I also really enjoyed the character arc and the prodigal-son-esque storyline of jaded detective Fin Macleod returning home. As he solves the murders, he has to face his own dark past.  

My interest in the Vikings initially arose out of seeing the Lewis Chessmen at the British Museum, they have such interesting faces, full of life and mystery. For me, the chessmen are the reason for my writing journey and in this small and perfectly formed book is the story of their discovery on the Isle of Lewis and their journey to the present day.

Written by the marvelous storyteller Irving Finkel who is the Assistant Keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian script, languages, and cultures in the Department of the Middle East in the British Museum – which is something of a mouthful (check out his YouTube videos).

It is an easy read that transports a person back into time, wondering who the chessmen belonged to, why did they end up on a Scottish beach and what do those funny little carved characters make of it all? 

Hedderwick’s whimsical watercolors and text capture the heart of Scotland’s western isles and something essential about Scots, too. Over the course of a year, she travelled over the waters to and between these islands in her VW Camper, capturing with humor what makes these people tick – often just a brood of kittens nestled in a kitchen cupboard. I turn to this book when I am feeling nostalgic about Scotland. Hedderwick captures for me the undertones of Scottish life.

There’s been a proliferation of books in the last decade about wild and abandoned Scottish islands abundant in puffins and seals, but I have an affection for this, originally published twenty years ago, as it was the first I read and nudged me towards exploring the theme at the opposite extreme edge of Europe. Nicolson actually inherited the Shiant islands in the Hebrides who had bought them, so it’s no wonder he had them to himself, but he also was inspired by that connection and made it his serious mission to explore their nature and history, and uncovered in detail the haunting past of these abandoned islands. 

A Buchanesque MacVicar spins a dark tale of adventure against the charming Scottish scenery of Argyll in this 1939 yarn. Our hero is Alastair Campbell, Glasgow-based journalist and bachelor, whose plans for a cruise along the West Coast of Scotland are thwarted by a storm. Soon, he is stranded on a Hebridean island with a charming young woman – and nefarious individuals who are clearly Up To No Good. After a body turns up, they investigate and uncover a dastardly scenario to spread devastation and panic on Armistice Day (hence the title). Campbell is an appealing ‘lead’, as he doubts his ability yet nonetheless prevails. The villains are chilling, men and women alike, particularly when Campbell imagines the havoc wreaked by their plot in a fine piece of prescient writing. There are boats, guns, and planes galore, all described in expert and compelling detail that lend verisimilitude to a rip-roaring… show more.