Books about or set in Scotland
 

I have picked up some great recommendations here for books about various countries.<BR>Does anyone have any recommendations on books set in Scotland or about Scotland.<BR> I am reading the series by Dana Gabaldon as well as the Sir Walter Scott novels.(talk about extremes) I also have ' A History of Scotland &quot; by Magnus Magnusen, (looooong).<BR><BR>Anyone have anything else to recommend?

Bleak stories e.g Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. 'The 39 Steps' by John Buchan.

VERY bleak film few yrs. back starring Emily Watson; think it was called Breaking the Waves.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark (the novel on which the play and the movie were based)

Everything by Christopher Brookmyer except the Millenium one; Anything by Quentin Jardine; anything by Ian Rankin; anything by Ajay Close; anything by Denise Mina<BR><BR>Most of those are detective novels. Try Compton McKenzie; Neil Munro; Robert Louis Stevenson.<BR><BR>Right now I'm reading a book which was sent to me at Christmas by an American Fodorite and which is called &quot;How the Scots invented the Modern World&quot;<BR><BR>For a Candian angle read &quot;No Great Mischief&quot;. Truly one of the best books of the last decade

OK. the books I love best of Scotland are the &quot;Bruce&quot; trilogy of Robert the Bruce.. (couldn't put those down) and also by Nigel Tranter.. the History of Scotland, less weighty then Magnus Magnusen.. do a search on Amazon.. these are wonderful books, I actually bought my first &quot;bruce&quot; book IN a book shop in Scotland.

sheila -- you mentioned a novel about a family that emigrated from Scotland by alistair mccloud (I think) in another post. I thought I'd remember, but of course I don't, and now I can even remember what thread I read it in. If you know what I'm talking about, could you please re-post it?
Thanks -- Annette

Sheila,

I just finished that one (&quot;How the Scots invented the Modern World&quot;) - very interesting read.

Another good one is &quot;An Innocent in Scotland&quot;. It's a gentleman's journey to obscure places in Scotland. He has a dry sense of humour so I truly appreciated it. *chuckle*


Waverly,

I've rented several movies including Braveheart, Rob Roy, The 39 Steps, and Trainspotting. I'd also recommend getting a few travel videos from your local library or AAA office.

A dumb Sheryl story: I had put holds on several of the video traveloges at the library. As they came in I'd go pick them up. I was waiting on the last one and hurried right over when they called. Wasn't I surprised to see that &quot;Bonnie Scotland&quot; was a Laurel and Hardy movie - NOT a travel video!

~ Sheryl

oops -- I see it was just a few posts ahead of me in this very thread.
Thanks for the other suggestions as well
Annette

Hi Waverley,
Some of my favourite Scottish books are probably well out of print but include John Buchan's Castle Gay, Huntingtower and John MacNab. This year I picked up a very good modern take on the last of these, called The Return of John MacNab by Andrew Greig. It does not attempt to update Buchan but the plot uses the original book to plan a similar caper. I really enjoyed it.
Also Mary Stewart's Wildfire at Midnight, set on Skye in the fifties. I have just realised it is 50 years old this year! Oh well, I knew I was getting old.
Rosemary

This post got buried and I nveer saw all these replies. Apologies, but a very belated thank you to all who gave such great suggestions.

Wonderful writer Rosamund Pilcher has several book set in Scotland........in fact most all her books are written around sites in Scotland and Cornwall England. You could find these in a search, or Amazon search.......one good one being &quot;Winter Soltice.&quot;

Ian Rankin's mysteries are set in Edinburgh. Good reads and inspector Rebus is a fascinating character.

I love Gabaldon. I think everyone should have to read Dragonfly in Amber before visiting Culloden.

More mysteries (there are lots of these set in Scotland, aren't there?)

Josephine Tey's The Singing Sands
Dorothy Sayers' The Five Red Herrings (set in Kirkcudbright)

M.C. Beaton's &quot;Death of&quot; Series (begins with Death of a Gossip. Featuring Highland Constable Hamish Macbeth)

Freya North's Sally is a lovely fluffy British chick lit. that has a nice interlude on Mull, and Chloe is another in the same series that spends some time in Scotland. Both hard to find in the U.S., but great beach reading.