“It’s
odd how people can get locked into a kind of time warp. There’s a time in their lives that defines
them, and they hang on to it for all the subsequent decades; the same hair, the
same style of clothes, the same music, even though the world around has changed
beyond recognition.”
This passage set the premise for the entire book. He had moved on but was called back to Lewis
and had to deal with folks there whom he had not seen in many years. Most were doing the same thing they had done
when he left. This could have been my
hometown—without the rain and wind!
“A sepia world. I grew up in the sixties and seventies, and my childhood
was purple.”
I liked the idea that the main character, Fin Macleod,
referenced colors and also included
music to go with much that occurs in the story.
I would have added that in this case he might also have added in Bon
Jovi’s You Can Go Home Again as that
was exactly how he managed to solve his life’s mixtures of pain, grief and
living. Purple could have been Hendrix’s
Purple haze but in this case I think it meant more than the color of the house
he grew up in. I think it refers to the deep underlying issues that had
remained unresolved from his past. What might have appeared pretty, even a royal
color was actually years of hurt.
“Life went past you in a flash, like a bus on a rainy night in the
Ness. You had to be sure it saw you and stopped to let you on, otherwise it was
gone without you, and you would be left with a miserable walk home in the wind
and the wet.”
Too many of the characters in the book forgot to get on the
bus. They harbored resentment, carried secrets
and spent their lives amidst the wind and the wet.
It was no good looking backward, even if you had no notion of where it
was you were going.
When Fin left the island he did not look back. He had no idea where he was going and even
when he returned as a policeman, he was still undecided where he wanted to end
up in life. He was taking classes to
give him more options.
“The trouble with jealous revenge is that while you might inflict hurt
on the other party, it does not lessen the effect of the hurt you are feeling.”
Artair, Marsaili, Angel—so many did things to others because
they wanted revenge. In the end it did none of them any good. It led to death,
destruction and both emotional and physical harm to those who did not deserve
such treatment.
The world is like the weather, Marsaili. You can’t change it. And you
can’t shape it. But it’ll shape you.
Weather was such an integral part of the book. Wind, rain, wet, high seas and storms were
everywhere. If I lived there I would
probably be in a bad mood most days. Bad
things happened in bad weather and each event definitely shaped the lives of
all involved.
I liked the book but was happy when it ended. It held many surprises that I look forward to
discussing with you. What were your
favorite passages? What surprised you most?
