Thank you to Gillebride MacMillan and Eileen MacDonald for their considerable help with Scots Gaelic translation, and their patience in the face of all my fictional place names! Thank you, too, to Alison Lang and the wonderful Gaelic Books Council. Any and all mistakes are completely mine.

Thank you to the mental health charity, Mind, for all information and advice. I’m also especially grateful to the people who were kind enough to talk to me about their own personal experiences of living with bipolar 1 disorder.

Thank you to all the booksellers, reviewers and bloggers for their endless enthusiasm and kindness. I am forever indebted and would name every one of you if I could!

Thanks to my friends and family for their fantastic support, especially my parents, Muir and Louise Johnstone, my sister, Lorna Booth, and my godmother, Susan McEwan. Thanks also to Nina Allan, Chris Priest, Priya Sharma, Sarah Pinborough, Lorna Waddell and Shona Van der Wolf.

And thank you to my husband, Iain. The Isle of Lewis and Harris might be our place, but you are, and always will be, mine.

Last but never least, thank you to readers everywhere. I thank you most of all.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Maggie Anderson (Maggie MacKay)

The Campbells:

Isla Campbell

Kenny Campbell

David Campbell

The MacDonalds:

Alec MacDonald

Fiona MacDonald

Sheena MacDonald

Lorne MacDonald

The MacKenzies:

Bruce MacKenzie

Gillian MacKenzie

Donnie MacKenzie

The MacLeods:

Charlie MacLeod

Moira MacLeod

The Morrisons:

Euan Morrison

Cora Morrison

Iain Morrison

Will Morrison

Heather Morrison

The Reids:

Robert Reid

Mary Reid

Calum Reid

The Stewarts:

Thom Stewart

Kate Stewart

Kelly Stewart

Fraser Stewart

Ejaz ‘Jaz’ Mahmood

Jimmy Struthers

The Archaeologists:

Femi Tinubu

Doctor Kumiko (‘Miko’) Okitsu

GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND PLACES

Kilmeray Island

Eilean Cill Maraigh

Kilmeray Island [translation: ‘Church of (St) Maraigh’ Island]

Pronunciation: ay-lan / keell / mar-aye

Eilean Beag

Wee Island

Pronunciation: ay-lan / baik

Villages on Kilmeray

Blàr Mòr

Blairmore [translation: Big Battle]

Pronunciation: blaar / more

Ùrbost

Urbost [derived from Old Norse meaning New Dwelling]

Pronunciation: oor-bost

Places on Kilmeray

Gleann nam Bòcan

Valley of Ghosts

Pronunciation: gl-aun / nam / bow-can (as in bow-tie)

An Droch Chadha

Wicked Pass

Pronunciation: an / droch (-ch as in loch) / ch-aa-huh (ch as in loch)

An Cladh Dubh

Archaeological dig on Kilmeray since the 90s [translation: The Black Burial Ground]

Pronunciation: an / clou-ch (-ch as in loch) / doo

Tòrr Dìseart

meaning: burial mound/ deserted mound; derived from the Old Norse word Dysætr, for burial place

Pronunciation: torr / jee-shirsht

Sid a’ Choin Mhòir

Lair of the Big Dog

Pronunciation: she-ch (-ch as in speech) / uh / ch-oin (-ch as in loch) / vohr

Àite Lurach

Lovely Place

Pronunciation: ach-eh (-ch as in speech) / lur-ach (ah as in loch)

Àrd Chreag

Ardcraig [translation: High Cliff]

Pronunciation: aa-rd / ch-raik (ch as in loch)

An Rubha Siar

West Point

Pronunciation: an / roo-ah / sheer

Oir na Tìr

The Edge of Land

Pronunciation: or / nuh / cheer (ch as in cheer)