Clear
A Novel
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3.7 • 28 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
“Tender, riveting, and inventive is Clear, the newest offering and masterpiece from the brilliant Carys Davies. It will take your breath away…What a thrill.” —Sarah Jessica Parker
A stunning, exquisite novel from an award-winning writer about a minister dispatched to a remote island off of Scotland to “clear” the last remaining inhabitant, who has no intention of leaving—an unforgettable tale of resilience, change, and hope.
John, an impoverished Scottish minister, has accepted a job evicting the lone remaining occupant of an island north of Scotland—Ivar, who has been living alone for decades, with only the animals and the sea for company. Though his wife, Mary, has serious misgivings about the errand, he decides to go anyway, setting in motion a chain of events that neither he nor Mary could have predicted.
Shortly after John reaches the island, he falls down a cliff and is found, unconscious and badly injured, by Ivar who takes him home and tends to his wounds. The two men do not speak a common language, but as John builds a dictionary of Ivar’s world, they learn to communicate and, as Ivar sees himself for the first time in decades reflected through the eyes of another person, they build a fragile, unusual connection.
Unfolding in the 1840s in the final stages of the infamous Scottish Clearances—which saw whole communities of the rural poor driven off the land in a relentless program of forced evictions—this singular, beautiful, deeply surprising novel explores the differences and connections between us, the way history shapes our deepest convictions, and how the human spirit can survive despite all odds. Moving and unpredictable, sensitive and spellbinding, Clear is a profound and pleasurable read.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
An unexpected friendship blossoms in this memorable historical novella. In 1840s Scotland, penniless minister John accepts a job he’s not remotely qualified for: removing Ivar, the last inhabitant of a remote island. However, after John suffers a bad fall just one day after arriving, Ivar finds the mysterious man and nurses him back to health. The two men form an unexpected relationship that transcends language and circumstance, while John’s wife Mary worries at home, and eventually sets sail on her own journey to find her husband. Welsh author Carys Davies’ quiet, considered, and unpredictable tale is transportive, with gorgeously sparse and polished prose reflecting the wild and unforgiving island. The weather and unrelenting landscape may be frantically whipping around them, but the calm, innermost thoughts and contemplations of the three characters are what makes this story so impressive. If you love character-driven novels with a real sense of place, you’ll adore this journey of self-discovery set during the Scottish Clearances.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A minister's conscience is tested in the perceptive and beautiful latest from Davies (The Mission House). In 1847 Scotland, John Fergusen has recently broken from the Church of Scotland as part of a movement to form the Free Church, which aims to be independent from the influence of landowners. It's also lacking in funds and unable to pay salaries to its leaders. John and his wife Mary are now impoverished, and he contracts with a landowner for £16 to perform an unsavory errand on a remote island. His task, which flies in the face of his purported principles, is to arm himself with a gun and evict the island's sole remaining tenant, Ivar, so the land can be cleared for sheep. In alternating chapters from the points of view of Ivar, John, and Mary, Davies gradually unfurls the story of John's calamitous arrival on the island, which involves a near-fatal fall from a cliff; his unexpected friendship with Ivar, who nurses him back to health; and Mary's concern about John's safety, which prompts her to board a steamer and come to his rescue. Davies cranks a great deal of tension into the economical plot—as the weeks pass, the reader wonders if John will finally tell Ivar why he's there, whether the gun will ever go off, and how Mary's impending arrival will affect the two men. Moreover, each page blooms with wondrous descriptions of the untamed highlands ("Now and then a long smudge of rain in the distance screened the sun, sending its illumination down onto a band of water along the horizon before it burst through again and lit up the pasture"). This is divine.
Customer Reviews
Meh
Description said otherwise , but this is simply a long drawn out short story with little depth or characterization. Well written, but can get dull and tedious.
Disappointing
Disappointing - started out an interesting story in an interesting time and then made a turn into a bromance.