Elspeth Barker

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION FROM MAGGIE O'FARRELL Janet lies murdered beneath the castle stairs, oddly attired in her mother's black lace wedding dress, lamented only by her pet jackdaw... In this, her first novel, Elspeth Barker evokes the unrelenting chill of Calvinism and the Scottish climate; it's a world of isolation and loneliness, where Barker's young protagonist turns to increasingly to literature, nature, and her risque Aunt Lila, who offer brief flashes of respite in an otherwise dank and foreboding life. People, birds and beasts move in a gleeful danse macabre through the lowering landscape in a tale that is as rich and atmospheric as it is witty and mordant. The family motto - Moriens sed Invictus (Dying but Unconquered) - is a fitting epitaph for wild, courageous Janet, and her determination to remain steadfastly herself even as events overtake her.

O Caledonia

Maggie O'Farrell

In the tradition of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, a darkly humorous modern classic of Scottish literature about a doomed adolescent growing up in the mid-19th century—featuring a new introduction by Maggie O’Farrell, award-winning author of Hamnet.

Janet lies murdered beneath the castle stairs, attired in her mother’s black lace wedding dress, lamented only by her pet jackdaw…

​Author Elspeth Barker masterfully evokes the harsh climate of Scotland in this atmospheric gothic tale that has been compared to the works of the Brontës, Edgar Allan Poe, and Edward Gorey. Immersed in a world of isolation and loneliness, Barker’s ill-fated young heroine Janet turns to literature, nature, and her Aunt Lila, who offers brief flashes of respite in an otherwise foreboding life. People, birds, and beasts move through the background in a tale that is as rich and atmospheric as it is witty and mordant. The family’s motto—Moriens sed Invictus (Dying but Unconquered)—is a well-suited epitaph for wild and courageous Janet, whose fierce determination to remain steadfastly herself makes her one of the most unforgettable protagonists in contemporary literature.

A Novel

amy 

In the manufacture of human pride, there is no ingredient so potent as the production of a son.

Katherine Marie Elizabeth

Sometimes Janet thought that life's sole purpose was to teach one how to die. As in most spheres, so in this, animals did better than people.

From the very first sentence this book completely captured my attention. I picked this up at the library, sat down and did not move until I had finished.

The writing was so lyrical, witty and intelligent I fell in love with this world that Barker was building. I loved how the main character found beauty in what is generally considered ugly; snakes, mushrooms, moors, Latin and the Gothic. 

I wish I could say more, I really do. I just have so much to say I cannot get anything out in words! This was just utterly fantastic. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who's looking for a slightly more alternative bildungsroman!

iris may

From the very first sentence this book completely captured my attention. I picked this up at the library, sat down and did not move until I had finished.

The writing was so lyrical, witty and intelligent I fell in love with this world that Barker was building. I loved how the main character found beauty in what is generally considered ugly; snakes, mushrooms, moors, Latin and the Gothic. 

I wish I could say more, I really do. I just have so much to say I cannot get anything out in words! This was just utterly fantastic. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who's looking for a slightly more alternative bildungsroman!




elizabeth

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the ARC of the 2022 edition in exchange for an honest review. 

Reading a chapter-by-chapter plot summary of O Caledonia wouldn't take long; not a whole lot happens in the strictest sense. There are vignettes of action, but the bulk of this skinny little book is spent simply bringing the reader into an intimate relationship with Janet, the imaginative and insightful outsider. This intimacy with the novella's protagonist and her sharp observations is balanced with the atmospheric coolness of its Gothic setting. Barker deftly illuminates the coexistence of joy and isolation, the delightful and the macabre in Janet's short life.

This edition is published with an introduction by Maggie O'Farrell, who succinctly captures the magic of O Caledonia: "Linguistic skill and deep semantic pleasure are evident in everything she writes. You can open this book at random and within seconds light upon a phrase that is not only elegant but shiveringly exact." Indeed, this book contains linguistic exactitude that is simply on another level. Less exact choices would render this book fluffy and disposable. There are countless passages, paragraphs, and even singular words that glitter or crackle on the page, bringing Janet and her world to vivid, even if tragic, life. 

Barker's mastery over language is makes O Caledonia worth reading. It feels remarkably special. I'm shocked I haven't read it since it was originally published in 1991.

O Caledonia's a delight from the start for its beautiful narrative with ocassionally entertaining bits. It's basically a slice of life with a naughty quirky character who really doesn't deserve the sneer and cold shoulder even upon her death. I waited patiently for her shenanigans to escalate to a really fucked up point, but she never caused real harm up till the end. It's all quite normal on hindsight. Maybe this is a critic to British etiquette and norms of that era that's abnormally pushed to children who are in fact should be in the period of exploring their personality, interests and surrounding? What's jarring here is not the children's behavior but mostly how the parents neglected and discouraged Janet's development after all.

What's missing from this book is a little depth on the characters' inner world. The book's heavily character driven but it feels a bit empty. It's arguably middle grade but this genre can usually pack up a good deal of young turmoil. Honestly, middle grade books make up the majority of my tear jerker shelf. Compared to When You Reach Me, Bridge to Terabithia, Flipped etc, this is more gothic with a purposefully thematic atmosphere, but unfortunately not as memorable.

3.5 lah.

britt

Sarah Erle

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Thaddeus Cortez

anne caroline

Gabe Cortez

Heather Harrington

Sara Mercedes

jenny

This first novel explores the chain of events which, in the social circumstances and mores of Scotland of the forties and fifties, cause the bizarre death of a young girl. This novel won the RSL's Winifred Holtby Prize for the best regional novel of the year.

O Caledonia

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