The Story Keeper

Scottish folklore is one of my favourite things so I was eager to read this book, but it was a bit of a let down to be honest. Despite the main character, Audrey, journeying to the Isle of Skye to ‘collect the word-of-mouth folk tales of the people and communities around her', there was scant mention of folklore in this book. Indeed for most of it, nobody wanted to talk to Audrey. The story was painfully predictable, the mysteries not terribly mysterious, and the ending rushed and overwrought, with all the loose ends tied up in a pretty bow.

If you want to read a better mystery set on an island and featuring Victorian feminism and independent women in the age of man, try The Lie Tree by Francis Hardinge, which this book seemed like a poor imitation of.

NB. This should be marketed as a YA book, not adult fiction.

Audrey flees a scandal in London to take up a job as a folklorist on the Isle of Skye with the mysterious Mrs Buchanan. Her job, to collect stories, songs & legends from the local crofters before they are forgotten and lost forever. What she discovers, however, is something much more sinister, something very very real.

I flew through this in 2 and half days and it's quite possibly my favourite book of the year so far. Wonderfully creepy & atmospheric, the prose is exquisite and ending just about perfect. Warmed my cockles it did, warmed my cockles.