The next book to be featured on the Zoe Ball Radio 2 Book Club will be Clear, the compact and powerful new novel by critically acclaimed author Carys Davies. The book is released on 7 March and you can listen to Carys and Zoe on BBC Sounds now.
We have an exclusive extract available for you to read. We also have some discussion questions for your group to use.
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Clear
1843. On a remote Scottish island, Ivar, the sole occupant, leads a life of quiet isolation until the day he finds a man unconscious on the beach below the cliffs. The newcomer is John Ferguson, an impoverished church minister sent to evict Ivar and turn the island into grazing land for sheep. Unaware of the stranger’s intentions, Ivar takes him into his home, and in spite of the two men having no common language, a fragile bond begins to form between them. Meanwhile on the mainland, John’s wife Mary anxiously awaits news of his mission.
Against the rugged backdrop of this faraway spot beyond Shetland, Carys Davies’s intimate drama unfolds with tension and tenderness: a touching and crystalline study of ordinary people buffeted by history and a powerful exploration of the distances and connections between us. Perfectly structured and surprising at every turn, Clear is a marvel of storytelling, an exquisite short novel by a master of the form.
Selection panel review
The book was selected with the help of a panel of library staff from across the UK. Our readers loved Clear – here are some of their comments:
“I was immediately entranced in this novel. The descriptions and dialogue remained concise but felt profound from the first few pages – an indication of where this novel was to go. I was intrigued and engaged in this delicate mystery. It was a part of history I’m ashamed to say I knew nothing about before but found it really interesting to learn about through this novel’s lens.”
“Beautifully written, lyrical historical novel. John is an impoverished minister who is sent to a remote island off the coast of Scotland to clear the last remaining inhabitant, Ivar. I didn’t know very much about the Clearances (a little) but I thought the emotion and profound social impact of this movement in the 19th century was very well evoked. For a short and quite spare novel this is full of atmosphere, and the island vivid – I feel like I could walk around it! The characters were interesting and the issue of communication between two men who initially don’t know each other’s language at all was fascinating. It’s quite a literary book, and very well crafted – I admired it a lot. A very interesting book!”
“This is practically a novella. It’s a sweet and compelling story about a mid 19 century Scottish Presbyterian Minister – but one of the new Wee Frees. Newly married, he is trying to earn enough to build and support a new church. To help with this he acts an agent for the Highland clearances….specifically on a remote Scottish island not far from mainland Norway. There is only one remaining resident. The novel is about the minister’s literal and emotional journey, his growing relationship with the island’s resident, his wife’s positive influence, and the ultimate solution to what becomes an unexpected relationship. I really enjoyed it. It’s a clever plot with great detail, and very moving elements.”
“Lovely lucid writing. Simple yet such depth. A remote Scottish island, mid 19th century, landowners clearing small-holders from their land and their living. I was drawn into the place, the harsh yet fine life of Ivar, the dilemma of John who has been sent to evict him, the differences between them and yet their beautiful growing friendship and relationship. And hope.”
About the author
Carys Davies is the author of two novels, The Mission House and West, which won the Wales Book of the Year Fiction award, was Runner-Up for the Society of Author’s McKitterick Prize and was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize. Her short stories have been widely published in magazines and anthologies and broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and have won the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize, the Society of Authors’ Olive Cook Award, the Royal Society of Literature’s V S Pritchett Prize, and a Northern Writers’ Award. Davies’ second collection, The Redemption of Galen Pike, won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award 2015.
A word from Carys
“I couldn’t be more thrilled that Clear has been picked for this book club, and I especially want to thank the librarians who helped choose it, because I would never have written this story if it hadn’t been for a library. I spend a lot of my time reading and writing in the beautiful old Reading Room at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, where I live, and late one winter’s afternoon about ten years ago, I stumbled across an old dictionary of an extinct language once spoken on the islands of Shetland and Orkney in the far north of Scotland. Clear grew out of the words in that dictionary, and while it’s very much a work of my imagination, it’s also indebted to the many books, manuscripts, maps and other treasures I found in the library over the years as Clear took shape in my mind and on the page. It became a story about love and dispossession, language and connection, resilience and hope, and I hope you find plenty to debate as you accompany John, Ivar and Mary on their respective journeys. When I began it, I had no idea how it would end. I loved writing it and hope very much that you enjoy discussing it.”
Get involved
Tune in to the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show for the latest Book Club updates, and listen to the full-length interviews on BBC Sounds.
Have you read Clear? Or any other books by Carys? You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter using #R2BookClub.
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