The Grey Coast

A compelling, dramatic and deeply psychological story of youthful love and trapped hopes set in the startling landscape of the far North. First published by Jonathan Cape in 1926, this centenary edition celebrates a major talent and the work of one of Scotland’s most important and neglected writers.

The wide-open skies, fierce seas and the ever-changing weather of Scotland’s farthest reaches, provides the setting for this gripping and emotionally acute study of young love and youthful ambition and the constraints and violence of a traditional community. Maggie and Ivor struggle to connect in a world that seems fixed on keeping them apart.

The Grey Coast is a magnificent novel of land and the people who live upon it. Timeless, uncompromising and exhilarating, this is a work that marks the arrival of a startling new talent. It introduces a host of compelling characters and way of life that – though vastly different to our present age – demand our attention as much now as ever.

Gunn is a major Scottish writer with an international reputation; this beautiful new edition aims to re-establish him as a central figure in Scottish letters.