Author(s): Elspeth Barker

Adult Fiction | Staff Favourites

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.

STAFF REVIEW by Lucinda and Millie

A gorgeous gothic coming of age novel, set in Scotland during mid-last-century. ‘O Caledonia’ starts with a murder, but it’s not a mystery novel. Sixteen year old Janet is found dead at the bottom of the stairs in her Highland home, dressed in her mother’s “black lace evening dress” and her family think only of burying her quickly so as to forget her. The novel attempts not to investigate who killed Janet, but provides an account of her short life, from birth to death. Janet is disobedient, selfish and finds herself connecting with animals far more than with people. Despite this, I found Janet entirely loveable. Her clashes with other people are relatable, as is her love of reading and her distaste for boys, which adds a comic twist to the novel. Barker’s prose is well crafted and witty and shows her love of the Scottish landscape. The joy that reading Janet brought me was akin to the joy I felt reading ‘Matilda’ as a child. Anyone who has ever felt on the outer but has rejoiced in being themselves will fall in love with Janet and this book.