Despejado

by Carys Davies, Gabriel Insausti (translator)

La historia de dos desconocidos destinados a entenderse, una pequeña joya de la literatura británica.


Ivar, el único habitante de una remota isla escocesa, vive desde hace décadas en pacífico aislamiento acompañado de unos pocos animales. Hasta que un día de 1843 se encuentra a un hombre inconsciente en la playa. El recién llegado es John Ferguson, joven presbítero enviado por el dueño de la isla para desahuciar a Ivar y poder convertir la zona en terreno de pastoreo. Ajeno a las intenciones del desconocido, Ivar lo lleva a su casa y, pese a que no hablan el mismo idioma, un frágil vínculo empieza a nacer entre ellos. Entretanto, en tierra firme, Mary, la mujer de John, espera ansiosa noticias de su marido.


Ambientada en el recóndito territorio de las islas Orcadas durante los implacables y dramáticos Desalojos de comunidades rurales escocesas del siglo XIX, Despejado es la conmovedora historia del encuentro entre diferentes, una novela íntima y llena de ternura sobre dos personas a merced de los cambios sociales y económicos de su época.


«La belleza de esta novela, con sus frases perfectas, su ternura austera y su serena sensación de desasosiego, es atemporal. Una obra magistral.» Hernán Díaz


«Davies es una escritora de inmenso talento.» Colm Tóibín


«Davies posee el excepcional don de la brevedad elocuente. Despejado es aguda, emotiva, inesperada.» Penelope Lively


«Una narración tan intensa que empuja al lector a terminar el libro de una sentada.» Bernard MacLaverty


«Una carta de amor al poder abrasador del lenguaje. En pocas palabras es capaz de evocar mundos enteros.» Clare Clark (The Guardian)




«Una pequeña joya, bellamente esculpida, que no olvidarás fácilmente.» Fiona Roberts-Moore (Evening Standard)

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Scotland, Historical, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, LGBT

156 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 2, 2024

About the author

Carys Davies's debut novel, West, was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, runner-up for the McKitterick Prize, and winner of the Wales Book of the Year for Fiction. Her second novel, The Mission House, was first published in the UK in 2020 where it was The Sunday Times Novel of the Year.

She is also the author of two collections of short stories, Some New Ambush and The Redemption of Galen Pike, which won the 2015 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and the 2015 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. She is the recipient of the Royal Society of Literature's V.S. Pritchett Prize, the Society of Authors' Olive Cook Short Story Award, a Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library, and is a member of the Folio Academy. Her fiction has been translated into nine languages.

Born in Wales, she grew up there and in the Midlands, lived and worked for twelve years in New York and Chicago, and now lives in Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Andy Marr · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a writer, I really should never use phrases like 'lost for words' and 'completely indescribable'. But every so often, a book comes along that is so unique, so beautiful, so perfect that I know I will never find the words to do it justice. This is one of those books. There are just no words. Except, maybe... wow.

[Angela M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This felt like the kind of story that might have been written many decades ago, one that might have been read in school, one that reflects a profound truth about human nature and our need to connect to each other, one that has a classic feel, one with a stunning ending that encourages faith in humanity. Two historical events in 1840’s Scotland set this quiet, introspective novel in motion - the split in the Scottish Church and the Clearances as the author describes in her notes where “whole communities of the rural poor were removed from their homes by landowners in a relentless program of coercive and systematic dispossession to make way for crops, cattle and increasingly as time went on - sheep.” I knew nothing about either of these. The beauty of learning through well written historical fiction. It’s a short novel, so I’m not going to go into detail of the plot. The book description tells much of it.

I wanted to read this because I loved West by Davies. While very different stories, I found the beautiful atmospheric writing and a deep reflection of what loneliness feels like. This is worth reading for the writing, the thought provoking and touching ending and characters who will stay with me.


I received a copy of this book from Scribner through NetGalley.

[Sujoya - theoverbookedbibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear by Carys Davies takes us to 1843, Scotland in the final stages of the Scottish Clearances during which rural inhabitants from the Scottish Highlands were forcefully evicted to clear the lands for sheep pastoralism. 1843 also saw the Disruption of the Church of Scotland which saw a large number of evangelical misters walk away from their jobs and their income to form the Free Church of Scotland that would be free of patronage and interference from the British Government.

As the story begins, we meet Reverend John Ferguson, an impoverished minister struggling to raise funds for his congregation, who has accepted a well-paying “temporary factoring” assignment. His task entails surveying the terrain of a remote island north of Scotland for its adequacy to meet the requirements landowners have planned and “clear” the island of its sole inhabitant, a man by the name of Ivar whose remaining family has long since left the island. Along with his papers and a calotype of his wife Mary, John also carries a pistol given to him by the landowner’s factor who assigned him to this task. Ivar lives in solitude in a stone hut with only his animals for company. Within the course of a month, John is to persuade him to leave the island. But when an accident lands him in Ivar’s care and he spends more time with Ivar connecting with him on a deep personal level despite not sharing a common language, John is conflicted over his mission. Ivar, who had been craving companionship, develops a strong attachment to John, unaware of his true reasons for being on the island. Miles away, when Mary is made aware of the potential perils John may face in his task, concerned for his safety, she takes it upon herself to travel to the island. The narrative follows these characters as their paths converge.

Clear by Carys Davies is a stunning novella that transports you to the Scottish Highlands with its vividly described settings and into the hearts of its characters in sparse yet lyrical prose. The author deftly weaves the three threads of this novel into a cohesive narrative. Please note that the pacing of the narrative is slow, which I thought suited the nature of the story and allowed a deeper and an intimate exploration of the thoughts and emotions of its characters - Ivar’s loneliness and his kindness and compassion; John’s internal conflict as he ponders over his duty, the beliefs that have governed his life and vocation and his emotions; and Mary’s determination, loyalty and sacrifice. The narrative is presented from the perspectives of John, Ivar and Mary and touches upon themes of solitude, isolation and how human connection can be forged in mysterious ways. To bear witness to two characters learning to communicate with one another despite the lack of a common language was truly humbling. The author’s use of Norn words lends authenticity to Ivar’s character and the time and place in which the novel is set. Please read the Author’s note, where she discusses the historical context of this novel and provides a brief glossary of Norn words found in the narrative. There were certain aspects that I wish would have been developed further, but this in no way detracted from my overall reading experience.

This is my second time reading Carys Davies ( my first Carys Davies novel was The Mission House, which I also enjoyed) and I was not disappointed. With its vividly described atmospheric setting, rich historical context, exquisite writing and memorable characters Clear by Carys Davies is a compelling read – the kind of story that stays with you long after you have turned the final page.

Many thanks to Scribner for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel was published on April 2, 2024.

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[Canadian Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, short and striking.

We are taken to a remote Scottish island where a preacher is to evict a farmer. Before being able to deliver this devastating news, an accident.

A story of humanity without a fluent language; of compassion and connectedness.

The writing was lush - Davies painted a vivid landscape. However the ending, not sure I could buy into it: The contrast stark and I get it -Just not sold on it.
3.75⭐️

[Nataliya · Rating 3 out of 5]

“At this time of year, when it is light for so much of the night, the island feels like an unsleeping place, as if it is only ever dozing through the small hours and nothing could happen anywhere on it, or around it, without it noticing.”

Set in 1843, Clear by Carys Davies gives us a glimpse of Scottish Highland Clearances, with landlords evicting their tenants to turn the lands into more profitable sheep pastures, disregarding the lives and livelihoods of those whose lives meant less than money. Ivar is one of those tenants set to be forcibly evicted, living in solitude as the lone human inhabitant of a small island, speaking a language that is going extinct. The language barrier prevents him initially from realizing that a man he found unconscious and half-dead on the island, Reverend John Ferguson, was sent there to serve the news of the eviction by his landlord. John is a minister of newly established Free Church of Scotland, forced on this errand by poverty and desire to support his wife, Mary, who eventually sets out for the island herself after realizing the danger that may befall John when he confronts Ivar. The story is told in very short chapters through the three perspectives — Ivar, John and Mary — in a novella that is quite brief but somehow doesn’t feel too short.

I can see how it enchanted so many readers. The prose is lovely, simple and yet evocative, wonderfully conveying the feeling of the place, the lonely island in the middle of the unfriendly sea, harsh but beautiful. The story unfolds slowly, unhurriedly, making you feel like you’re right there, on that cold remote bit of land and cliffs among the waves. John Ferguson’s fascination with Ivar’s language, Norn, is portrayed very well. And Ivar’s loneliness stemming from isolation and solitude, and his love blossoming at the first connection with another human being in years is quite poignant.

“There was a word in Ivar’s language for the moment before something happens; for the state of being on the brink of something.
He’d tried several times to explain it using words John Ferguson already knew—with mimes and charades involving the water and the weather—but John Ferguson had never been able to grasp what it was he was trying to tell him.
In due course, John Ferguson will understand it.
In due course, after a fair amount of back-and-forth and to-ing and fro-ing, he will arrive at a precise and succinct definition of it—a definition in which he will give, as examples of the sort of moment it describes, “the last moment before the tide turns; the last moment of day before night begins.”

But — as much as I loved Davies bring the harsh beauty of the island to life, I kept feeling strangely removed from the emotional journey of the two men, especially John. I understood it cerebrally, but the connection to them remained at arm’s length despite me loving the time spent on the island itself and the language musings. It does all the heartstrings-tugging, but doesn’t quite fully get there, maybe because it’s trying so hard.

“It was as if he’d never fully understood his solitude until now—as if, with the arrival of John Ferguson, he had been turned into something he’d never been or hadn’t been for a long time: part brother and part sister, part son and part daughter, part mother and part father, part husband and part wife.”

And another “but” — that ending. That was, by comparison with the book’s slow dreamy pace, unnecessarily abrupt and rushed — and a bit of a cop-out, completely smoothing out the roughness of the pain that any way this story were to unfold otherwise would have brought. It may be hopeful, but the abruptness made it feel unearned, just a way to wrap up the story in a way that could have greatly benefitted from much more bittersweetness or emotional weight of decision. I don’t want a tragic ending; life needs happiness — but the story needed at least a few more pages to help it develop and not ring false.

3.5 stars. Not perfect but sometimes it’s the atmosphere that is needed for a flu-fogged brain.

——————

Also posted on my blog.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The setting is a remote island off of Scotland in the 1840’s…during the Scottish Clearance’s, where the rural population was cleared (removed) from the land with forced evictions.
John… a poor Scottish minister leaves his wife in the care of relatives and accepts the job of removing the last inhabitant on this island.
After traveling there he has an injury that leaves him in a coma and with bad bodily injuries.
This is where we meet Ivar.. the man who’s to be evicted… he finds John and takes him to his home and cares for him.
Ivar has only had the sea and various animals as company for many years. He and John don’t speak the same language. So.. when John recovers he won’t know why this man is there.
This is a quiet, and serene novel… beautiful setting..it is sensitive, atmospheric, and unpredictable.


Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for the ARC!

[switterbug (Betsey) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scottish minister John Ferguson doesn’t know it yet, but he’s on a journey of self-discovery that starts with an arduous errand. He accepts decent pay to oust Ivar, the only inhabitant of a remote island beyond Shetland---he has to “clear” Ivar from the island. John and his wife, Mary, are struggling to make ends meet, ever since he broke ties with the established church patronage system and joined the Free Church, which doesn’t yet have an actual church for him to live in and preach from. The small boat he is in for the last leg of travel tips over from a boisterous sea, but he ultimately lands safely, only to have an accident that renders him unconscious. It is Ivar that finds him and nurses him back to health. Ivar speaks a Scots language unknown to John, but as time passes, they each learn a bit of the other’s language, and begin to communicate. John is now feeling awkward about evicting a man who saved his life. I mean, yeah!

This short novel is told from alternating povs, of main characters John, wife Mary, and Ivar. Ivar has a tragic past, followed by so many years of no human contact you wouldn’t blame him if he cried all the time. But he doesn’t—he knits, fishes, stays busy and staves off misery. He desperately misses other human beings, no shame in that. You will see what he does with a found photo of Mary. No, it’s not vulgar at all, it’s totally sweet and cheered me up.

Despite Ivar’s loneliness, I thought he was inspiring and gentle. I was curious whether he would possess a few harsh streaks in him, living alone all these years. So, besides being a survival-in-the-wilderness story, the beating heart of it concerns humans being human with each other and the touches of sadness from living a lonesome life. Ivar wasn’t perpetually lonely because he stayed active doing things he enjoyed. I’d like to think I would be as resourceful as Ivar if I were all alone. But there are times when the lack of human contact is soul-crushing.

There wasn’t a lot of emotional excitement at first, although it is adventurous from page one. Throughout the story, the reader witnesses the quotidian lives of John and Mary, their mundane but interconnected lives. Aren’t most lives mundane, repetitive, peppered with intervals of emotional highs? Well, this is a story that quietly leads the reader to the emotional highs--new experiences for John, Mary, and Ivar. It’s my first time reading Davies—she has a flair for interiority, and sets her scenes like an artist. Even when a character is active and dealing with the harsh elements of nature, we also sense the distilled essence of their private lives.

Davies writes in a clean, lean, stark style, not even a whiff of an extra word. Her polished prose is measured, building to a surprising, unpredictable denouement. Climate and landscape move the tale along, with the roar of the ocean, silent banks of fog, and the explosion of birds covering the sky. Misty and hazy, it’s the summer season of dusky light, no complete darkness on these far north islands. CLEAR is a superb blend of outdoor survival and inward desire, slow to unfold but with a satisfying and touching finale.

Be sure and read the author’s note and dictionary of terms in the Norn language, from which Scots is derived. Davies draws upon Jakob Jakobsen’s Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland, written in the early 20th century. There are multiple and infectious terms for the various kinds of mist, sea, waves, wind, and other features of nature. For example, yog is a heavy sea with short, choppy waves. Dalareek is mist rising from low-lying stagnant water. What an intriguing language!

ADDENDUM Feb 7, '24. I keep thinking about this book. I originally had 4+ stars, but it lingers, I even had a dream about it, and the more I think back on it, the more longing I have for the narrative, the setting, the characters---well, all of it. The problem with rating a book right after reading it is that it is only in the moment. But, in this case, it is CLEAR to me that it is a 5-star book that deserves awards. The denouement initially seemed incredulous to me, which lowered my star rating. But, over time, for some reason, it ceased to matter. The prose, the setting, and the themes of the book rose up above and beyond my initial difficulties. It may not be the same for everyone.

Thank you to Scribner for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for review. I recommend it to all literature lovers.

[Nina (ninjasbooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written.

[Beata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in 1840s on a remote Scottish island, in the background the novel depicts most complicated fate of people who were forcibly evicted from their farms and had them destroyed in order to make space for sheep to graze. That was a tragic moment in histroy which prompted forced migration and more poverty added to already existing problems.
The novel is short but intense and one of those in which every word counts. Ms Davies knows how to give each sentence a meaning and draw a reader to her prose and characters. This work of fiction was perfectly edited and, to quote a classic, there are just as many words as there should be.
*A big thank-you to Carys Davis, Granta Publications, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2018 I read Davies ’West’, in 2021 I read her ’The Mission House’ and loved them both, so when I saw she had this new book on the horizon, I knew I wanted to read it. Once again, she managed to pull me into this story from the start, and kept me captive in a wilderness, surrounded by both danger and beauty.

Set in the 1840’s on an island during the last phase of the Scottish Clearances, this is the story of a Scottish minister, John, who must travel to this island, his purpose being to evict the one remaining man still living on the island. He leaves his wife to travel there, hesitant to do what he knows he must - evict this man, Ivan.

Not long after he arrives, John is injured, and Ivan brings him to his property, which serves as his home. There, he is able to care for him. There is no real conversation between them at first, since neither speaks the other's language, but as time passes, a friendship and a bond is formed as they come to understand each other.

This was one of those quietly lovely, moving, compassionate, and heartfelt reads for me. One that will stay with me for a long time.


Pub Date: 02 Apr 2024


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Scribner

[Berengaria · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
*This review is a postcard from Outlier Island* 🌴📨📫

short review for busy readers: nature, nature, nature, nature, religion, marriage, nature, nature, Highland Clearances, religion, nature, nature, language, language, nature, language, religion, language, nature, nature, nature, nature, language, nature, feelings, The End. Sort of.

in detail:
This is the 2nd of Davies works I've read and I found both highly problematic technically and huh? as far as storyline goes.

That she's a talented writer is obvious, but since I disagree with almost all of her authorial choices, that talent feels largely squandered to me.

And if I were in a devilish mood, I'd accuse her of Grievous Authorial Cowardice on three major counts in this novella.

1. When John has his accident at the beginning of the story, the POV suddenly switches from semi-close 3rd, to omniscient, breaking the 4th wall, before going back into 3rd. Why? Why the sudden pan out at a crucial point in the narrative? Why the sudden shift to an impersonal POV when an up close view would have been far more impactful on the plot?

2. If we are to assume homoerotic feelings and homosexual sex between John and Ivar then why is it only alluded to in highly vague, "if you've been there, you'll know" fuzzy camera focus type of way? Why the coyness?

3. The ending is a non-ending. The conflict is not resolved, nor even faced. It's skirted around, it's looked at...and then bolted away from with Mary swooping in at the end to provide a conflict-free, deus-ex-machina historically problematic ending. . The author simply abandons the narrative, walks away, leaving the story problem entirely unresolved. (Bad, bad form.)

All of this points strongly to a general discomfort and avoidance of dealing directly with the plot conflict, of getting really stuck into the topics touched upon.

The politics of the Free Church, the actual horror of the Scottish Clearances, John's innate hypocrisy in so easily taking a job from Lowrie and much more are viewed from a comfy "tea and bird-watching" distance.

Instead of meeting the story full on, we are given characters pondering inconsequential minutia --that effectively blinkers out any of these larger conflicts -- all the while being showered with pages and pages of descriptions of nature.

Great descriptions, but they make up the bulk of this novel and I'm not someone who gets chills of delight reading lists of plants and wildlife or having grass and hills described to me umpteen times.

The idea for "Clear" is not bad, neither are the characters nor the plot conflict. But the reticence of Davies to actually engage with her narrative makes the novel into a tedious exercise in nature observation and very little else.

An average 2.5 stars.

[Candi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The harsh but gorgeous landscape and the simple, evocative prose are what won me over in this little novel, my first by Carys Davies. The setting is a remote Scottish Island in 1843 during the Clearances. Tenants are being evicted from their homes and land by their landlords to enable them to line their pockets in a more profitable manner. The author notes that “Thousands upon thousands between 1750 and 1860, were evicted, or driven by famine, to leave their homes.”

Reverend Ferguson is sent to the island to remove Ivar, its sole occupant. An accident extends Ferguson’s stay and his purpose for the journey is concealed. Ivar speaks an extinct language, and the two men must learn to communicate despite this barrier. Ferguson is determined the two men teach one another their individual languages and keeps track of the words they share in a journal. I was intrigued by the notion of language as a barrier but also as a way of bringing people together.

“He wondered, looking at the column of words, none of which he could read – neither the ones on the left in John Ferguson’s tongue nor the ones on the right in his own – if there was a word in John Ferguson’s language for the excitement he felt when he ran his finger down the line between the two columns of words, which seemed to him to connect their lives in the strongest possible way…”

The narrative alternates between Ivar and Ferguson and Mary, Ferguson’s wife. Mary stays behind on the mainland, anxiously waiting for her husband’s return. Mary is no meek housewife, however, and I enjoyed reading her point of view as well. The story failed for me a bit in the end. There were some tense moments, but I felt it was a bit too rushed and, as a result, I had a difficult time understanding the characters’ motives. I think a bit more development would have allowed me to feel these people as living, breathing individuals – which is something I crave as a somewhat fussy reader of fiction these days! Still, Carys Davies’ prose has inspired me to read more of her work. 3.5 stars

“How is it, she thought, we never see the big things coming?”

[Gareth · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Clear’ is a sublime and beautiful piece of literature. Over a mere 146 pages, Carys Davies has been able to deliver a story filled with so much emotion and depth. All set against the backdrop of the split of the Scottish Church and the Scottish land clearances, it focuses primarily on the relationship between three people. Themes such as isolation, solitude, landscape, language, friendship, family and ultimately hope all shine through to tell a story which is easy to cherish – particularly the way in which the story concludes! Highly recommended and can’t wait to go back and read her other books!

[Hannah Greendale (Hello, Bookworm) · Rating 3 out of 5]

An air of hope permeates this tender portrayal of unexpected connection, set amid the Scottish Clearances.

"Slowly John Ferguson looked around at the walls and up at the opening in the roof, blinking once, twice, and then a third time before his eyes came at last to rest on Ivar himself."

While not as emotionally resonant as anticipated, Carys Davies' descriptions of the sea crashing over sunken rocks and foaming in greenish eddies, the wind whipping over the peat and the pink thrift, and the gulls circling overhead are wholly transportive.

My deepest gratitude to Scribner for providing an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
---
My #1 most anticipated read of 2024. I cannot wait to get my hands on this!

[Helga · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

The events of the story take place in Scotland in 1843.
John Ferguson is a minister who has been sent by a landowner to evict Ivar who has been living on a Scottish isle all his life.

John lands on the island and hides the gun he has been given to in case of violence. But before introducing himself to Ivar and accomplishing his mission, he has a near fatal accident and finds himself in Ivar’s home and his care.

It is obvious that Ivar doesn’t know of John’s intentions.
Should he tell him or should he lie and make an excuse for his presence on the island?
What would Ivar do if he learns the truth?

The story itself was written beautifully and the chapters were appropriately short, alternating between John, John’s wife, Mary and Ivar’s perspectives.

What I didn’t care about the book, was the over and over and over-describing of the nature, the surroundings and the weather. The book was comparatively short, but it could have been much shorter.

As opposed to the detailed descriptions I found the characters under-done and their reactions and behaviours not compatible with their beliefs.

Also considering the date in which the story happens, I found the ending a bit far-fetched.

[Henk · Rating 4 out of 5]

RSL Ondaatje winner 2025!
A small gem, which brings not just an island community of one come alive, but makes characters removed over a century from us both real and complex.
If it was comfortable once, it wasn’t anymore.

In an understated fashion Clear brings to life 19th century Scotland, where mass-evictions of peasants from land took place to enable more modern, efficient farms, powered by hardy and self-sufficient sheep. How landowners talk about their redundant peasants is probably similar to how our Silicon Valley overlords think of workers who can be replaced by AI or robots. In the midst of this societal change, John is a minister of a newly split of church who needs a job. He is send to an island somewhere halfway between Norway and Scotland to evict Ivar, the last resident of the island. John his wife Mary has a bad feeling about all of this, which feels warranted after a nasty fall of John.
I was reminded in ways of Claire Keegan her work, in how in a slim work Carys Davies manages to make a whole world come alive. Also Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor, similar in length and dealing with island communities coming into contact with modernity came back to me while reading this book.

What Clear manages to do however, and why I think this would make for a great arthouse movie if someone ever would pick it up, is that it in a completely convincing way makes the relations between Ivar and John come alive. Even though Ivar speaks no English, and is in a micro language of himself which is closest to dialects spoken in the Orkneys, human connection ensues, cumulating in a Scottish island version of Brokeback Mountain.

The tenderness in how this book is written in 40+ short chapters is just phenomenal, for instance read this meditation by Ivar having his world disrupted by the turning up of John:
“I have the cliffs and the skerries and the birds. I have the white bill and the round bill and the peaked hill. I have the clear spring water and the rich good pasture that covers the tilted top of the island like a blanket. I have the old black cow and the sweet grass that grows between the rocks, I have my great chair and my sturdy house. I have my spinning wheel and I have the teapot and I have Pegi, and now, amazingly, I have John Ferguson too.”

Meanwhile Mary is arguably the most interesting character of the book, being all forceful with her rubber and porcelain fake teeth. Is it all completely realistic for a 19th century setting?
Maybe not, but Davies pulls it off and I’d be keen to read more by her and I hope this book finds broad recognition!

[Suz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be reminiscent of Claire Keegan, spare writing, extremely powerful, with little use of words with maximum impact. A three-hour audiobook, skillfully narrated by Russ Bain, bringing the accents to life; further enhancing the wonderful experience.

This is a small story in size, but huge in heart, left open ended which as I progressed, I was not surprised. The time is 1840’s Scotland. A poor unemployed minister is sent on a mission he probably shouldn’t be doing, he is an obedient man and has taken on the task of evicting a tenant who has occupied a desolate and remote island for decades. The money is desperately needed.

John leaves behind his wife to attend this serious task and runs into much trouble on the way. The story is a meandering weaving of how the tremendous man on the island, Ivar, has fended for himself for many years, his scant way of life, his communication with his animals as his only means of companionship.

Before this mission John shows his commitment to building a free church without money, and his dogged commitment to frugality and living without in these times of anger, frugality, and fear. He is a good man, a man that follows the rules in every way.

The two men do not speak the same language, and as Ivar explains as best he can, John builds his own dictionary, holding onto this and cherishing his notes. As the narrative unfolds from the three characters, including the wife left behind, we learn the motivations and desires to hold connection to each other. Particularly endearing is the manner in which Ivar cares for the unconscious man, and the way each unravel as consciousness is regained, both men blossoming in an unassuming way, almost invisibly so.

As in Keegan’s stories, I was left pondering at the end, in awe of the way these authors tell a very powerful story in a very simple manner. Perhaps these stories are the most powerful of all. I will seek more work from this author. Highly recommended.

I listened to this via the Libby app and my public library.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mid 1800’s, Scotland. A third of Presbyterians want to start a new Church. The Church of Scotland, of which John zFerguson is one such man, but money needs to be saved, raised before he and his wife, Mary can fulfill this dream. When John is offered a large sum of money to travel 400 miles to evict the last man, a farmer from an island, he agrees. This one act will affect his life and his views in unexpected ways.

There a a stark beauty, simplicity to this story. The prose is beautiful, descriptive and filled with meaning and emotion. The two men and their relationship will foster an understanding of the lives they are living and the changing feelings they are experiencing. Melancholy tone, and the story is one that pulls at the reader, showing how lonely an existence can be.

Reminded me very much of the writings of Emma Donahue, Haven in particular, so if you liked that one you will surely appreciate this story.

[Claire Fuller]

In the 1840s newly married John, a poor clergyman, leaves his wife Mary behind to take a job which involves travelling to a remote Scottish island where he must 'clear' the single remaining inhabitant, Ivar, whom the landowner is going to replace with sheep. Soon after his arrival, John has an accident and is found unconscious by Ivar who despite their lack of a common language cares for him and the two form a bond.
This is a wonderfully tender love story to the land, a disappeared way of life and human relationships. I loved it. And if you haven't read Davies' novel, West I urge you to read that too. I meanwhile need to read her other novel and her short stories. Highly recommended.

[Barbara K · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a few hours to spare, I doubt you could find a more rewarding reading experience than this short book. The writing is superb, all the more so because language itself is a central theme.

During the time of the infamous Scottish Clearances, when tenant farmers were forcibly evicted from their lands so that the owners could put them to more profitable use, impoverished minister John accepts the job of traveling to a remote island to remove the lone man still living there. Although this job is inconsistent with his sense of morality, he overcomes his qualms with thoughts of all the good the money he earns will do toward establishing his splinter Presbyterian sect.

Shortly after arriving, John is seriously injured in a fall, and discovered in a coma by Ivar, the local resident, who nurses him back to health. They do not share a language, but over the course of the ensuing weeks John is captivated by learning Ivar’s words for the natural world and the objects and activities of his daily life.

Meanwhile, John’s wife Mary, who has had objections to this venture all along, learns that the man who hired John did so because he expected violent resistance that he didn’t want to deal with himself. She determines to make her own way to the island where she will insist that John return to the mainland with her.

All three of these characters are immensely appealing, with each one’s story well balanced against the others. I am always in awe of authors who can use spare prose to create richly developed characters, and Carys Davies is clearly among the best at this.

You will have to be your own judge regarding the ending, which seems to be the one aspect of the book that has received criticism. I had no objections to it, as the tone was consistent with what what had built up to it.

Really, I can’t recommend this strongly enough. 5 stars over the North Sea!

[Daniel Shindler · Rating 4 out of 5]

“ Clear” is a beautifully written novel that fuses the politics of economics and religion to create an undercurrent of ethical and moral questions that permeate the novel’s core. The thematic elements are delivered through the story of two men whose lives are altered by the convergence of two consequential events in nineteenth century Scotland.

In 1843, the rapacity of Scottish landowners was in the culminating stages of the century long land Clearances, which removed small tenants from their land to replace them with sheep farming. In the same year, over four hundred ministers separated from the Church of Scotland, protesting the landowners’ stranglehold on the clerical appointments on their estates.

The intersection of these two events affects the life of recently married John Ferguson, a minister in the newly created Free Church of Scotland. His devotion to his new calling has left him impoverished and struggling to support his bride.Thus he agrees to a paid job that sends him to a distant island in the Orkneys to survey the land and persuade the one remaining inhabitant to relocate within the month. Having arrived on the island, John’s fortunes take an unexpected turn when he is injured and subsequently rescued by Ivar, the person John has come to remove. Ivar installs John in his meager home and begins to oversee the healing process.

The two men begin to form a bond that is the framework of the novel’s narrative and ethical strands. Ivar speaks Norn, a language that has become” lost” as the islands have been cleared of inhabitants.John begins to compile a dictionary of Norn words that slowly allows the men to communicate. This gradual and hesitant process shows in human terms the impact of colonialism and avarice upon culture and, in Ivar’s case, language. Both men grasp a reality that they are unable to articulate. They are both outsiders whose previous support systems no longer exist. They must strive to overcome the uncertainty of each other’s motives and create a new set of social bonds that will enable them to function with a level of dignity.

An element of suspense accompanies the men’s attempts to formulate a workable social contract. John has never revealed the true purpose of his visit to the island. Ivar has in turn been circumspect in revealing his emotional yearnings to John. They lurch forward in their nascent yet unarticulated social framework while still beset by inner uncertainties.

The novel moves towards its ethical denouement with the approach of the vessel that transports John’s wife Mary to accompany the men off the island. Mary becomes the catalyst of a triangular relationship that triggers the novel’s societal and moral reckonings. The resolution leaves much unanswered, prompting speculation about the viability of the newly formed relationships once settled on the mainland.

There is much to admire in the novel’s masterful blend of history, language, culture and politics. The prose blends the reticent warmth of the men’s emerging bonds with the stark beauty of the island landscape.While reading, I felt cocooned in a unique world as I witnessed the development of a fragile emotional and social bond.Many of the thematic elements that drive the novel resonate in our current geopolitical dilemmas. The author has created a work that entwines simple and complex layers that enrapture and stimulate.4.5 stars.

[Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tender and atmospheric. Clear is just a little story and still so grand about two men who meet on a small island northern of Scotland in 1843—one wounded, the other the caretaker.

Imagine waves crashing against rocks. Imagine fog so thick you might get lost. Imagine a tall, bearded man knitting socks next to a fire for the wounded man. Imagine a man with a secret trying to learn his caretaker’s language. Imagine hardly any dialogue but so many feelings under the surface. Just imagine. Do you feel it? The vibes of this little book?

Clear is short, only 208 pages, and while reading I doubted if it should have been (way) longer to tell John’s, Ivar’s, AND Mary’s story or if this is just the right length. A small part of me yearns for something more, but I believe the size of the book fits this intimate story told in short and blunt chapters.

I fell in love with Ivar, the hermit who had lived alone for decades. Every time he started knitting, I began to smile. And when he smiled while looking at John, I smiled even harder. And in the end, I swallowed a lump in my throat when Mary … But I can’t tell what happened because I’d spoil too much.

Just know that this is an intimate and gentle story on a rugged island.

Thank you, Scribner and NetGalley, for this special story!

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[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of the Scottish Clearances and also didn’t know about the contention between the different church denominations in 1840 Scotland. As I understand, because of the contention, John, a minister, has little money because he has few members in his church. To supplement his income he takes on the job of evicting a remaining solitary tenant, Ivar, from a landlords island. This task is made almost impossible when John has a terrible accident and additionally can’t understand Ivan’s language.

I enjoyed seeing the island through John’s eyes. The descriptions are written beautifully. I could “see” the island and “feel” the atmosphere. The descriptions of Ivar’s food and daily activities were very interesting. I was drawn in by this gentle story and couldn’t wait to find out the ending.

That’s where I had to suspend my belief. It seemed very contrived and out of character for a staunch, religious man who felt that even dancing was a sin. The addition of the wife coming to find her beloved husband and delightfully accepting the situation seemed unreal.

If it weren’t for the ending I would have given the book 5 stars but it just didn’t seem real. Especially in the 1840’s.

Many thanks to Carys Davies and Scribner for the ARC via NetGalley.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up

“Clear” by Carys Davies, while firmly ensconced in its historical setting, is a well-crafted and meaningful character study. In 1843, the minister John Ferguson left the Church of Scotland to join the Free Church of Scotland. The author writes that this decision made him a poor man. Churchless and lacking in funds, he travels to a remote island in the name of its landowners to evict its one resident. This function is part of the Highland Clearances occurring from 1750-1860. Landowners cast out renters who have lived on the land for generations, aiming to turn the land over to crops and sheep or whatever will earn them the greatest profit. John Ferguson’s eviction task will earn him a tidy sum with which he plans to restart a new life with his wife, Mary.

While John Ferguson is a sketchy theologian, Ivar, who has lived on the island for decades, is a more substantial figure. His tasks are the ones of survival and his days are observed in close connection with land, sea, and sky. Even his physical description details a man whose life is determined by his natural surroundings.

His hair was the color of dirty straw, his beard darker, browner, full and perhaps unclean, with a patch of gray over his jaw on the left-hand side that stood out from the rest like a child’s handprint. Having no mirror, he had no clear picture in his mind of his own appearance beyond the uncertain reflections he sometimes saw in the island’s pools and puddles,...

We will first meet Mary in the picture that John Ferguson carries ashore in his satchel, a picture that Ivar will retrieve from the sea.

...he found a dark-haired woman inside a leather frame, looking up at him from behind a piece of broken glass with a shy and secret smile. …the woman herself was as alive as anything he’d ever seen, and more alive, by far, than his memories of Jenny or his mother or his grandmother.

Carys Davies establishes a mythic-like quality in her minimalist plot. She does this through imagery and character interactions. First of all, Jack Ferguson’s landing on the island is suggestive of rebirth. It is very different from the new life he has been planning with Mary, but regardless he is born again into this new world. Everything old has passed away. He’s even lost the picture of his wife. His purpose of evicting Ivar is something he’d like to forget. For Ivar, it’s a new life as well. He has someone to talk to and thereby the loneliness of his previous life is revealed. Another feature of this “rebirth” is John Ferguson learning to communicate in Ivar’s language. This holds a prominent spot in the narrative. Ivar’s language is Norn, which the author writes in her author’s notes, has now become extinct. As Ferguson learns the language, he realizes that it is much more expressive than his own, having many ways to describe the sea instead of a few. Ivar also has a spinning wheel and knits.

It was peaceful, watching the slight movements of the big needles in the man’s hands while he knitted, and when he was spinning to follow the passage of the thread as it was twisted and guided by the fly to the spool. The spinning wheel made him think of fairy tales…

The “hero in disguise” is Ivar, who least resembles a hero, but upon whom John Ferguson will come to rely. Another mythic trope is the artifact of doom served by Pandora’s box or the Philosopher’s Stone in other stories. In this story, Mary’s picture fulfills this role. Whether a predictor of doom or more of a catalyst, I’ll leave readers to discover.

The ending is conclusive but a bit open-ended at the same time. I love this because life for these characters could go in many directions but they will never forget when they were together on the island. It’s easy to understand the experience as transformative.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

John is an unemployed Scottish minister who accepts the job of clearing out Ivar, the sole inhabitant of a small island, because somehow he would be in the way of the sheep that the owner of the island intends to raise there. (As an aside, some people are just mean.) John’s wife Mary is concerned for him, and her concern is justified when John is injured in a fall on the island. Ivar (unaware of John’s mission) nurses John back to health and the two men develop a friendship, despite the fact that they can’t speak the same language.

Chekhov advised that a playwright should never put a loaded gun on the stage if it isn’t going to go off. So once a gun was introduced at the beginning of this book, and repeatedly referred to, I expected the gun to be fired. The presence of that gun created a tension throughout the book. However, this spare, elegant, subtle story had a more quiet impact than a gunshot. It was really lovely. I have enjoyed this author’s writing style in the past, but this was my favorite of the three books I’ve read.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

My deep and abiding love for Carys Davies' work continues. Clear is everything I hoped for - a simple but compelling story, characters I felt sympathy for, a stunning piece of historical fiction. Carys Davies never disappoints me.

Clear tells the story of John Ferguson, his wife Mary, and an islander called Ivar whose lives intersect when Ferguson is sent to Ivar's tiny island between Norway and the Shetlands to tell him he must leave.

The story is set during a tumultuous time in Scotland - the Clearances of huge swathes of land as the landowners forced tenants off the land to make way for more profitable pursuits. Ferguson is also a church man who, like others, had split from the Church of Scotland to form the new Free Church.

It's a huge subject to tackle but Carys Davies effortlessly makes it about the characters - their hopes, dreams and loves.

Suffice to say if you loved her previous work you will love this and if you haven't read any before then I highly recommend this beautiful, short, perfectly formed novel.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Granta Publications for the advance review copy. It was well worth the wait since Mission House.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is set on a remote Scottish island in 1843.
John Ferguson is an impoverished minister. He is tasked to remove the last remaining inhabitant of this island. His name is Ivar. He has lived off the land for many years. It is the only life he knows.
Shortly after arriving, John falls off a cliff and becomes unconscious and injured. Ivar finds him and nurses him back to health. John and Ivar do not speak the same language., but learn to communicate with one another. Ivar is happy to have John on the island. John has an unpleasant job to complete.
This is a beautiful story filled with compassion. It is a heartfelt emotional read about loneliness and relationships.
Not to be missed.

[Dem · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

Beautiful descriptive writing, I loved the characters but the ending was very unrealistic.

[Trudie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am learning that I am not the best reader of stories set on remote islands, doubly so when dictionaries of forgotten languages are involved - admittedly this is a niche subject area but specifically I am thinking of The Colony.
Its all sea wrack, waves crashing, stumbling through bogs and pass me the fish liver pudding.

To me, not a lot happens in Clear until suddenly the author decides something should happen ( and it all starts with dancing ). I don't feel it worked in the context of what had gone before but I could be wrong.

This was all a little disappointing honestly.

[Diane Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing was beautiful and so was the story, but there were 2 major turning points in this novel, both of them unexpected and shocking. I didn't really buy into either of them.