The Valley at the Centre of the World – Malachy Tallack

Description

‘The thing he felt ending was not just one person, or even one generation; it was older, and had, in truth, been ending for a long time . . . It was a chain of stories clinging to stories, of love clinging to love. It was an inheritance he did not know how to pass on.’

Shetland: a place of sheep and soil, of harsh weather, close ties and an age-old way of life. A place where David has lived all his life, like his father and grandfather before him, but where he abides only in the present moment. A place where Sandy, a newcomer but already a crofter, may have finally found a home. A place that Alice has fled to after the death of her husband.

But times do change – island inhabitants die, or move away, and David worries that no young families will take over the chain of stories and care that this valley has always needed, while others wonder if it was ever truly theirs to join. In the wind and sun and storms from the Atlantic, these islanders must decide: what is left of us when the day’s work is done, the children grown, and all our choices have been made?

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The Valley at the Centre of the World was on my wish list so I was delighted when the publisher approved me to download a preview copy.

I have to confess.  I have an interest here.  I love visiting Shetland.  My grandmother was born and brought up in Dunrossness and although the family moved to mainland Scotland in the 1920s when she was in her teens, I still have relatives who live in Shetland.

I found the book an enjoyable and easy read about the inhabitants of  one remote valley in Shetland over the course of almost a year – the ones who were rooted there, the ones who arrived and left, the ones who arrived and stayed a while.  While it is not a fast, exciting read I liked the style and enjoyed reading about the various characters and their interactions.  For me there was a sort of familiarity with the people and place.  There is just the right amount of back story for each of the characters too.

It’s just a fact that there are some who can’t wait to leave Shetland and others who can’t imagine wanting to settle anywhere else.  My grandmother was one of those who went ‘hame’ to Shetland for her holidays most years until she was well into her 80s.

Some of the dialogue is written in Shetland dialect but there is a helpful glossary at the beginning of the book.  I loved the lines written in dialect.  It brought these characters to  life.  I could picture the scenes and the Shetland humour comes through too.  I didn’t find it difficult to understand but perhaps I had the advantage of growing up listening to my great grandfather, my grandmother and her eight sisters.  Don’t let the dialect parts put you off.  I think it makes the characters seem more real.

[My thanks to NetGalley and Canongate Books for providing me with a digital review copy].