Not the Booker prize shortlist: A long look at The Visitors by Simon Sylvester

A haunting story of a remote community in the Shetlands is told as a thriller, but it would be better without the thrills

Read Sam Jordisons reviews of other shortlisted books

A few years ago, I read a book called The Roost by Neil Butler. This was a series of interconnected short stories about teenagers growing up on Shetland and it was unexpected and unsettling and seriously impressive. The account of the difficulties of coming of age in such a lonely place of boredom, of drinking, and of grey seas was amusing, sad and nigh on perfect. But the most interesting thing was the way Butler weaved in local myths about bodies washing up on beaches and about selkies seals who shed their skins to become human on land. Butlers mix of briny magic, earthy reality and teenage dreams was heady and wrong-footing. I thought at the time that it was unlike anything I had read or would read in the future.

Which goes to show how wrong I can be. Because Simon Sylvesters The Visitors has a remarkably similar scenery and characters. This time the action takes place on the remote (and fictional) island of Bancree, but the weathers pretty similar there (wind, rain), the teenagers have similar entertainment options (drinking, fighting, more drinking) and the local seas also seem to support more than the usual aquatic life.

Continue reading...