Gillespie

A book which succeeded where the likes of Scott, Stevenson & Hogg had all partially failed with me - bringing to life a Scottish fictional character whom I wished I'd invented. This is no Scottish kailyard, one-dimensional stereotype clearing the jumps, stumbling before the last then recovering to win it by a nose. Gillespie Strang is, by turns, complex, familiar, otherworldly & simple. The tale of his pursuit of power & the effects on all around him & Gillespie himself makes for difficult but enthralling reading. Published in 1914, but as relevant today as it's ever been. Politics on a pinhead & lives played under a brilliant stylus.