The Bass Rock

The award-winning author of All the Birds, Singing, Evie Wyld returns with a haunting, beautifully intricate and psychologically fearless novel. The Bass Rock charts the stories of three women, far apart in time but interlinked by the eponymous rock on the Scottish coast, exploring the emotional and physical restraint imposed on them by the men in their lives. Written with profound insight and startling honesty, The Bass Rock cements Wyld’s place as one of the bravest, most distinctive voices in contemporary fiction.

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The Bass Rock has for centuries watched over the lives that pass under its shadow on the Scottish mainland. And across the centuries the fates of three women are linked: to this place, to each other.

In the early 1700s, Sarah, accused of being a witch, flees for her life.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Ruth navigates a new house, a new husband and the strange waters of the local community.

Six decades later, the house stands empty. Viv, mourning the death of her father, catalogues Ruth’s belongings and discovers her place in the past – and perhaps a way forward.

Each woman’s choices are circumscribed by the men in their lives. But in sisterhood there is the hope of survival and new life…