The Bass Rock: A Novel

WINNER OF THE STELLA PRIZE * ONE OF VOGUE’S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

The lives of three

women weave together across centuries in this dazzling and empowering

portrait of their resilience through the ages.

Surging out of the sea, the Bass Rock has always borne witness to the lives that pass under its shadow on the Scottish mainland. And across the centuries, the fates of three women are inextricably linked to this place and to one another: Sarah, accused of being a witch, is fleeing for her life; Ruth, in the aftermath of the Second World War, is navigating a new marriage and the strange waters of the local community; and six decades later, Viv, still mourning the death of her father, is cataloging Ruth’s belongings in the now-empty house.

As each woman’s story unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that their choices are circumscribed, in ways big and small, by the men who seek to control them. But in sisterhood there is also the possibility of survival and a new way of life. Intricately crafted and compulsively readable, The Bass Rock burns bright with love and fury-a devastating indictment of violence against women and an empowering portrait of their resilience through the ages.