And the Land Lay Still

Michael Pendreich is curating an exhibition of photographs by his late, celebrated father Angus for the National Gallery of Photography in Edinburgh. The show will cover fifty years of Scottish life but, as he arranges the images and writes his catalogue essay, what story is Michael really trying to tell: his fathers, his own or that of Scotland itself? And what of the stories of the individuals captured by Angus Pendreichs lens over all those decades? The homeless wanderer collecting pebbles; the Second World War veteran and the Asian shopkeeper, fighting to make better lives for their families; the Conservative MP with a secret passion, and his drop-out sister, vengeful against class privilege; the alcoholic intelligence officer betrayed on all sides, not least by his own inadequacy; the activists fighting for Scottish Home Rule -- all have their own tales to tell. Tracing the intertwined lives of an unforgettable cast of characters, James Robertsons new novel is a searching journey into the heart of a country of high hopes and unfulfilled dreams, private compromises and hidden agendas. Brilliantly blending the personal and the political, And The Land Stay Still sweeps away the dust and grime of the postwar years to reveal a rich mosaic of 20th-century Scottish life. A landmark for the novel in Scotland. One of Britains best contemporary novelists Irvine Welsh, Guardian An absorbing, gripping read…Robertson is a master storyteller…a towering, ambitious book, virtually flawlessly realised, a masterpiece, and without doubt, my book of the year. Daily Mail Vivid…a book built on a grand scale…beautifully realised…from the first to the last Robertsons attention is focussed on the slow seismic shift that has transformed Scottish social and political landscape since the war…gripping narrative, easy prose style, delivering an intricate plot with elegant simplicity- The Times A brilliant and multi-faceted saga of Scottish life and politics in the second half of the twentieth century…a powerful and moving novel. The Sunday Times Intricately organised…its some achievement. New Statesman And The Land Lay Still weaves engrossing individual storylines against the broader stripes of cultural shifts such as the birth of Scottish nationalism. The Daily Telegraph A cleverly orchestrated narrative…an ambitious enterprise…its only rival in 1970s revivalism is Jonathan Coes The Rotters Club…one can easily imagine Robertsons saga being dramatised for television.- Our Friends in the Far North perhaps?- FT It has a Dickensian scope, its focus moving from the top of society to the bottom and back again- The Herald