The Lost Lights of St Kilda

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When Fred Lawson takes a summer job on St Kilda, little does he realise that he has joined the last community to ever live on that beautiful, isolated island. Only three years later, St Kilda will be evacuated, the islanders near-dead from starvation. But for Fred, that summer – and the island woman, Chrissie, whom he falls in love with – becomes the very thing that sustains him in the years ahead. By the end of the week she’s laughing about how he’s so keen for her to stay on. ‘“Never seen the cows give so much milk,”’ she says, imitating his Morvern accent. ‘“What do you do, Mrs Gillies, to make such a difference?” What does he think?’ she says. ‘I know them each by name. And all of them different.’ Does Chrissie love him too and will the lights of St Kilda shine bright enough to guide him home to her and whatever life she may have made for herself?

The Lost Lights of St Kilda: Elisabeth Gifford

In the 1940 timeline, Chrissie recounts her life on the island to her daughter Rachel while Fred talks about his experience there to pass the time while he was a prisoner in a German prison camp. Chrissie now lives on the mainland and listens to the radio every day, desperate for news of Fred. Thoughts of Chrissie are the only thing keeping Fred going as he escapes from his captors and fights his way home. Will he ever see her again? The reformed 51st in parade kilts The themes of weather and nature on the St Kilda islands are essential to the plot and the characters - how did you research these unique elements of the story? I absolutely loved Elisabeth Gifford’s last book The Good Doctor of Warsaw, so I approached her latest novel with eager anticipation; I was not disappointed. The Lost Lights of St Kilda is undoubtedly the best book I’ve read so far this year. Though Fred hasn’t seen or heard from Chrissie for many years, its the images of her and the idyllic times they shared, that keep him going through his captivity and the brutality he suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Archie too, thinks often of Chrissie, as he carries secrets yet to be revealed, that prove ever more burdensome as the years roll by. I have been a fan of Elisabeth Gifford's writing for many years and have reviewed all three of her previous novels here on Random Things. I had very high expectations for The Lost Lights of St Kilda, based on her previous work, and I have not been disappointed.I would like to thank netgalley Atlantic books corvus for the opportunity to have read the lost lights of St. kilda before publication. The Lost Lights Of St Kilda is a dual timeline novel of lost love and quite beauty. The locations are 1940’s France and 1927 St Kilda, a grouping of islands off the west coast of Scotland. With the timeline switching between 1910-1930 on St Kilda, 1930-1940 on Morvern Peninsular on the west coast of Scotland, and 1940 in occupied France, and the narrative switching between the voices of Chrissie, her daughter Rachel Anne, and Fred, this is a compelling and beautifully written novel. The gradually unfolding love story which underpins Chrissie and Fred’s relationship feels both convincing and very poignant, but it is matched by a parallel love story, the one symbolising how the islanders felt about St Kilda and for a way of life which was so precious to them. In many ways this felt like paean not just to a wildly beautiful place, but also to the loss of a unique community. Having read the other works of Elisabeth Gifford I was excited as I love her books as they have soul dignity but above all they are mesmerising she is a wonderful storyteller. The Lost Lights of St Kilda is a literary tribute to island life, the war, survival, bravery, hope, endurance and faith. Incorporating two timelines, this new novel from a passionate historical fiction storyteller relays a tale of two lovers, despair, hope and longing.

ELISABETH GIFFORD

The author’s gradual revelations of the events which led up to this momentous event very effectively captured the islanders’ sense of despair about the loss of their unique way of life, which however unsustainable it had by then become, had nurtured them for generations and was all they knew. She also demonstrated how tourism, whilst providing a source of income for the islanders – from the sale of their homemade tweed and birds’ eggs – also did much to undermine their self-confidence, as the visitors, seeing their simple, unsophisticated way of life and the identical nature of their dress, portraying them as objects of derision and curiosity, almost as though they were exotic exhibits rather than fellow human beings. As a result of all these insights, she enabled me to empathise with the profound sadness of their loss, as well as their fears and anxieties about what the future held for them. I think if there had been more focus on the war and history and less on the romance it would've been superb. Home> Fiction from Scotland> The Lost Lights of St Kilda The Lost Lights of St Kilda By (author) Elisabeth Gifford Moving between different timelines and points of view, each strand of the story – Chrissie’s life on St Kilda and Fred’s wartime experiences – would be enthralling enough in their own right. Woven together by the skilful hands of the author (much like a bolt of St Kildan tweed) they are simply wonderful. Summer 1927: When Fred Lawson takes a summer job on St Kilda, little does he realise that he has joined the last community to ever live on that beautiful, isolated island. Only three years later, St Kilda will be evacuated, the islanders near-dead from starvation. But for Fred, that summer - and the island woman, Chrissie, whom he falls in love with - becomes the very thing that sustains him in the years ahead.I wanted more character development. From Chrissie we get the most, & I did have a good sense of her personality & goals. I wanted more from Fred, especially what his life was like & what his life goals were between 1927 & 1941. Most of all, I wanted more development of the couple’s relationship, their attachment, why they liked each other, how they planned to make a future together, etc. Sadly, in 1930, the community almost starved when they were cut off by terrible storms and the island was abandoned. I began to read everything I could find about the group of islands that make up St Kilda but it would be another ten years before I felt I had enough knowledge to begin to attempt to reconstruct that lost community in novel form. Could you tell us more about your family's connections to the wartime theme that runs through the story? This is a compelling love story, meticulously researched and beautifully told. The sense of place is vivid, and the descriptions are so powerful that you can almost feel the chilly whistle of the wind. It is a haunting novel that lingers long in the imagination.

The Lost Lights of St Kilda by Elisabeth Gifford | Waterstones

Yes, this is an enduring love story between Fred and Chrissie – but it is also a poignant love story between a beautiful island and it’s inhabitants. Through Elisabeth Gifford’s haunting prose, the lives of the islanders vividly comes alive. The empathy I felt for the islanders was so visceral. Seeped in historical fact and powerfully portraying the natural beauty of the remote archipelago, I couldn’t put this book down. Furthermore I was devastated when I reached the end. I felt sad when I finished it and I feel that this fantastic book will stay with me for a long time. I began with an image of a man in a dark WW2 POW prison cell who holds on to hope through his memory of St Kilda. The St Kildan story is told through his eyes and also Chrissie’s. I worked on each story line separately then reviewed the interweaving strands, sometimes having to make many changes. I like the idea that history, including our own histories, constantly changes our perceptions of the present. Writing a dual time line story offers the fun of a detective story, and some of the philosophy of how we are affected in present time by the revelations from the past.

This historical novel is a love story that crosses oceans and decades, portraying two lovers, a desolate island and the power of hope in the face of darkness. What can you tell us about your first memories of discovering that St Kilda existed and then finding out more about the islands? I loved the descriptions of St Kilda and the details of the islanders’ life – “a daily struggle against nature”. (I wasn’t so sure about the island cuisine – ‘boiled oats with a salted puffin for flavour’ anyone?) I vaguely knew about the evacuation of the islanders but nothing of their history before that or the hardship of life there battling illness, cut off from the outside world for weeks at a time by storms, and living a hand to mouth existence from farming and the hunting of seabirds involving perilous climbs along cliff ledges. The sense of isolation is overwhelming. “Imagine a hill farm of some four square miles dropped in the middle of an Atlantic swell that even the sturdiest boats would think twice to sail and you have the situation of St Kilda.” Ahhhh, The Lost Lights of St Kilda truly captivated me. It is written in such a beautiful, subtle manner that evoked a deep impression on me. With its evocative sense of setting, emotional portrayal of true events and its understated love story, I was completely mesmerised reading this book. I loved that the characters become real people. We learn not just their descriptions and actions, but their beliefs, hopes and dreams. We learn the motivations behind their actions. They are allowed to change, grow and mature as the story unfolds. That this is such a rarity in fiction is a shame since it added a very satisfying dimension to the story. But what really grabbed me was the relationship between Chrissie and her beloved island of St Kilda. The remote Scottish island felt like it’s own character. The descriptions of the wild winters and the isolation which eventually doomed the inhabitants of the island in the 1920s was utterly gripping.

The Lost Lights of St Kilda; simply stunning - Novel Delights The Lost Lights of St Kilda; simply stunning - Novel Delights

The island really is the star of the show. You really get to know and feel it with its harsh winters and cold air, but its that sense of impending doom and the claustrophobia which increases as the novel goes along, which should really worry you. Established in 2011 and based in Edinburgh, Polaris Publishing Ltd are immensely proud to publish award-winning works by world-class authors. We are committed to unearthing exciting voices and publishing important, thoughtful and gripping stories with … The novel opens in a prisoner-of-war camp in 1940. Fred Lawson, captured and beaten by the Nazis is haunted by the memory of Chrissie, his lost love. She was 19 when Fred arrived on the desolate island in the summer of 1927 along with his friend Archie Macleod, the Laird’s son. Cautiously Fred and Chrissie develop a friendship which secretly develops into something deeper. Yet as she must dedicate her life to St Kilda to ensure her family and community’s survival and he is a Cambridge undergraduate, their lives are worlds apart. The prose is nice, especially the descriptions. The setting is magical! I really felt how beautiful & rugged St. Kilda was, how much the villagers & also the visitors like Fred loved being there. For me, this is by far the best aspect of the book. I loved the parts of the story set on the island.

As Fred contemplates his future, his thoughts drift to the past, and to that summer on St Kildas. It was there that he fell in love with local girl Chrissie, that that relationship has left a very deep impact on Fred, and also on Archie.