By the end of autumn the days are getting shorter again. The seabirds have left and the ravens have the cliffs to themselves. There are no more cruise ships in the harbour in Lerwick. Shetlanders prepare for the festivities of Christmas, Hogmanay and Up Helly Aa, and for the cycle of the year to begin once more.
Sunset on Unst.
Meal Beach, Burra.
Conclusion
Shetland is a landscape of contrasts. There are sheltered voes and beaches and dramatically exposed cliffs; lush meadows full of wild flowers in the summer and bleak hilltops where only the hardiest of plants will grow. With the changing seasons, the character of the place shifts as the dark days of winter give way to the light nights of summer.
In the islands, traditions are valued and celebrated, but new technologies and ways of working – especially in energy and fishing – are embraced. Shetland is the most remote place in the UK to live, yet often it feels at the heart of the artistic and cultural life of the nation. I find it welcoming, intimidating and inspiring.
Shetlanders have been unfailingly gracious about an outsider’s attempts to capture the spirit of their home in fiction, and have encouraged me to celebrate the islands in this book. I hope it will persuade more people to travel north to experience Shetland’s bleak beauty and to form their own relationship with a very special place.
AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’m a writer of fiction and find facts hard and troublesome things, so I was very grateful for help in the writing in this book. I’m indebted to the books of Charles Tait and Jill Slee Blackadder for sending me in the right direction. Thanks to Tim Cleeves for his research into the natural history of these beautiful islands, for sharing his passion for wildlife and his attention to detail. Thanks to Paul Harvey, Ingirid Eunson and Jim Dickson, for helping to identify some of the images and to Karen Fraser of Shetland Library and the staff of Shetland Archives for finding the remarkable story of the Victorian Lerwick murder. Most especially thanks to Mary Blance for all her support and advice and for her sensitive translation of the dialect poems.
PICTURE CREDITS
Antje Deistler: back flap
Dave Donaldson (davedonaldson.co.uk): here, here, here
David Gifford (davegifford.co.uk):, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Dreamstime.com: Aiaikawa here, here, here; Alfiofer here; Brochman here; Dudau here; H368k74 here, here, here; Hkuchera here; Lowlihjeng here, here, here, here; Marcandreletourneux here, here; Mirceax here; Misha72 here; Orion9nl here, here, here; Panalot here, here; Paulagent here; Photonics here
Gemma Dagger (gemmadagger.co.uk): here, here
John Simpson, Whalsay Golf Club: here
Rachel Davis (vagabondbaker.com): here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Richard Wemyss here
Sazh1980/Wikimedia Commons: here
Scottish Ornithologists’ Club archives (www.the-soc.org.uk): here
Shetland Museum Photographic Archive: here, here, here, here, here
Shutterstock.com: ABB Photo here, here, here, here; Abi Warner here; aiaikawa here, here, here, here, here; Alessandro Colle here; Alfio Ferlito here; Andrea Obzerova here; Attila JANDI here; Barnes Ian here, here; BGSmith here; Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH here; BMJ here; Chris Warham here; Cindy Creighton here; Dmytro Pylypenko here; DrimaFilm here; Erni here, here; Giedriius here, here, here, here, here; Graeme Dawes here; Graham Andrew Reid here; JASPERIMAGE here; Krizek Vaclav here, here; LesPalenik here; MarcAndreLeTourneux here, here; Marek Szczepanek here; Mark Caunt here, here, here, here; Mark Medcalf here; Mateusz Sciborski here; Menno Schaefer here; Paul Reeves Photography here; Paula Fisher here; Steffen Foerster here, here, here; Targn Pleiades here; Tom Reichner here; Tory Kallman here; Trofimov Pavel here; TTphoto here, here, here, here; WronaART here
ANN CLEEVES is the author behind ITV’s Vera and BBC One’s Shetland. She has written over twenty-five novels, and is the creator of detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez – characters loved both on screen and in print. Her books have now sold over one million copies worldwide.
Ann worked as a probation officer, birdobservatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She is a member of ‘Murder Squad’, working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. In 2006 Ann was awarded the Duncan Lawrie Dagger (CWA Gold Dagger) for Best Crime Novel, for Raven Black, the first book in her Shetland series. In 2012 she was inducted into the CWA Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame. Ann lives in North Tyneside.
Visit the author’s website at
facebook.com/AnnCleeves
@AnnCleeves
First published 2015 by Macmillan
This electronic edition published 2015 by Macmillan
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
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www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-0980-6
Copyright © Ann Cleeves 2015
Cover images © David Gifford
Author photograph: Antje Deistler
The right of Ann Cleeves to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The publishers are grateful for permission to reproduce the following poems: ‘Winter Comes In’ (here) and ‘Shetland Wren’ (here) by Jack Renwick, from The Harp of Twilight published by the Unst Writers’ Group, 2007; ‘Water Lilies’ (here) by Vagaland, from The Collected Poems of Vagaland by permission of the Shetland Archives; ‘Voar Day’ (here) by Lollie Graham, from Love’s Laebrak Sang by permission of Mary Graham; ‘2 Ply’ (here) by Lise Sinclair by permission of Ian Best.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third party websites referred to in or on this book.
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Map artwork by Perfect Bound Ltd from source material by Rainer Lesniewski/Shutterstock.com
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