Consider the Lilies

This classic novel by the acclaimed author and poet examines a cruel episode of Scottish history through the intimate thoughts of an elderly woman.

 


First published in 1968, Consider the Lilies is widely celebrated as one of the finest achievements in contemporary Scottish literature. Set in the time of the Highland Clearances—the mass eviction of tenant farmers that began in the mid 18th century—it tells the tale of a solitary woman whose home is razed in the name of "agricultural improvement."


 


Having lived her whole life among her rural Highland community, she is suddenly told that she will be forced from her home, which will then be burned to the ground. The shattering pronouncement leaves her shocked and disoriented as her thoughts shift between despair for her future and memoires of the life that will soon be gone.