By the time I got there, I thought I already knew everything there was to know about the place, but even though I had pored over photographs, illustrations and maps, I still wasn’t prepared for the scale of it. Though tiny, it is also majestic and the gradients are far, far steeper than I had anticipated. The islands are now owned and protected by National Trust for Scotland, but the Ministry of Defence maintains an observation presence there – sadly – and have built a road to the summit of Mullach Mor. Reputedly it is one of the steepest in the British Isles and I can confirm that, having walked up it in pigeon steps. It really is a remarkable sight to see the cliffs rise above the horizon as you approach, and as you draw closer and the scale becomes apparent, it is just staggering that these towering mountains can be positioned on such a tiny scrap of land in the middle of the North Atlantic.

There are several small boat operators licensed to drop anchor at St Kilda, but we travelled with Go To St Kilda and I’d like to thank our highly experienced skipper, Willie, and his first mate, Gordon, who was hugely knowledgeable about the bird and marine life, as well as the history of the place.

Throughout this book, I have strived to remain faithful to everything I learnt about the islanders’ lives, so the locations and details you read here are true – from feeding the cows dock leaves to keep them still when milking, to learning the market cost of puffin feathers for the upholstery trade. However, this is of course a work of fiction, so the characters and what they do within the framework of this series are wholly made up and should not be attributed to anyone real. I have used some commonly found islanders’ names – such as Euphemia, Annie, Donald, etc. – and the surnames are also very specific too. A census was taken as the islanders were evacuated and there were found to be just five surnames shared among the last thirty-six islanders: Gillies, Ferguson, MacDonald, McKinnon and McKenzie. It felt right to give each heroine one of those surnames – and her own book – but I have deliberately made a point of not learning about specific villagers themselves so that the pairing of names is entirely spontaneous.