Insider's Choice: New Scottish books to look out for in November
Looking for Christmas gift ideas? Then check out some of these upcoming releases, writes Vikki Reilly
November sees the last of the year’s big festive releases, which are sure to dominate front of store tables in bookshops across the country. For fans of Timorous Beasties interior design, look out for their sumptuous collaboration with writer Steven Richardson in Toile Tales: Modern Day Fables Woven by Design (Black and White, 5 November, £30). A perfect marrying of tradition and subversion, the book is, predictably, a visual and tactile delight. The illustrations are beautiful, intricate and full of cheeky detail, while the accompanying stories pay tribute to the tradition of the fable form, offering humour and wisdom with a modern edge.
It’s becoming tradition for Coinneach Macleod to publish a festive offering, and this year’s Hebridean Baker: A Scottish Christmas – Recipes, Crafts and Stories for the Festive Season (Black and White, 5 November, £26) is another warm and comforting book, perfect for stockings. Other excellent Christmas presents are Golf's Original Fairways: The Story of Scotland's Oldest Golf Courses - Leith Links, Bruntsfield Links and Musselburgh Old Course by Mike Tucker (McNidder and Grace, 3 November, £17.99), Johanna Basford’s latest colouring book Wild Things (Ebury Press, 5 November, £16.99), and Denzil Meyrick’s posthumous The Mistletoe Wedding Murders (Bantam, 5 November, £16.99), the final Frank Grasby cosy crime mystery, completed by Ian Moore and retaining Meyrick’s customary playfulness.
The new crime fiction releases continue with Kill List by Quentin Jardine (Headline, 19 November, £22), the 38th Bob Skinner mystery, and Simon Kernick’s No One is Safe (Headline, 19 November, £20), a psychological thriller set in a dark forest in Scotland. Sherlock Holmes receives a tribute in a new anthology of short stories, Sherlock (Simon & Schuster, 5 November, £22), authorised by the Conan Doyle Estate, starring today’s bestselling crime authors including Anthony Horowitz, Janice Hallett, Steve Kavanagh and Scotland’s Abir Mukherjee. There’s also a festive tribute to the classic detective with Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Murders by Stuart Douglas (Titan Books, 3 November, £15.99).
Jean Findlay brings her skills as a playwright to her second novel, The Bohemian Queen (Scotland Street Press, 15 November, £14.99). The novel, which focuses on the life of Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I and VI, is split into the three acts of her adult life: in Heidelberg after marrying Frederick V of the Palatinate; in Prague once they have been crowned King and Queen of Bohemia; and in the Hague, where she lived in exile after their doomed reign ignited the catastrophic Thirty Years War across central Europe.
Findlay builds a portrait of a woman shaped by her status, education, her father’s influence, and the political circumstances of the time in a series of scenes, each characterised by lyrical, sensuous writing, and an exploration of principles. Her Elizabeth changes from a naïve, spoiled and proud newlywed to a worldly-wise yet determined matriarch as she ponders everything from beauty, love, health, duty and ambition to doubt, religious tolerance, constancy, diplomacy and a woman’s power. Though the novel is set in the 17th century, Elizabeth’s philosophising feels relevant to the challenges of our present day and allows space for contradiction and complexity without judgment.
Staying with historical fiction, look out too for The Berlin Passport Office by Flora Johnston (Allison & Busby, 19 November, £22), a tale of espionage set in Nazi Germany inspired by real life MI6 missions to help vulnerable citizens escape Hitler’s regime.
Vikki Reilly has worked in Scottish books for over 20 years and now works for Publishing Scotland, the trade and networking body for Scotland’s book publishing sector. She also edits BooksfromScotland.com, a website that promotes the best in Scottish writing, contemporary and classic, and supports Scottish publishers and authors to find new audiences.
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