The best Scottish books to lose yourself in the dream that is Scotland

By Claire R. McDougall

Who am I?

There is a saying that you can take the girl out of Scotland but not Scotland out of the girl. I am that girl. Born and raised in Scotland, I earned an MA from Edinburgh University and a M.Litt from Oxford. I met my husband during the summer at Dartmouth College and the rest, as they say, is history. Or, at least it would be, except for the hankering back to Scotland that never leaves. My novel set in Scotland was published by Simon & Schuster.

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The books I picked & why

Sunset Song

By Lewis Grassic Gibbon,

Why did I love this book?

Written in 1932, but set at the turn of the twentieth century, this beautifully written and evocative novel has been adapted to both stage and film. I love this book with a passion, because of the beautiful prose and because in a way it taught me how the ordinary lives of my people are inextricably intertwined with the land. Sunset Song follows the life of Chris Guthrie a young woman on the east coast of Scotland, her relationship to the land and to the poor farming community she has grown up in. Like my novel, it is the first installment of a trilogy. The novel is wildly popular in Scotland but under-celebrated globally. It is the favorite novel of Scotland’s prime minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

Sunset Song

By Lewis Grassic Gibbon,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Sunset Song as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Twice Voted Scotland's Favourite Book

'Left me scorched' Ali Smith
'Unforgettable' Guardian

Faced with a choice between a harsh farming life and the world of books and learning, Chris Guthrie chooses to remain in her rural community, bound by her intense love of the land. But everything changes with the arrival of the First World War and Chris finds her land altered beyond recognition.

One of the greatest and most heartbreaking love stories ever told,, Sunset Song offers a powerful portrait of a land and people in turmoil.

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Classics

An Eye on the Hebrides: An Illustrated Journey

By Mairi Hedderwick (illustrator),

Why did I love this book?

Hedderwick’s whimsical watercolors and text capture the heart of Scotland’s western isles and something essential about Scots, too. Over the course of a year, she travelled over the waters to and between these islands in her VW Camper, capturing with humor what makes these people tick – often just a brood of kittens nestled in a kitchen cupboard. I turn to this book when I am feeling nostalgic about Scotland. Hedderwick captures for me the undertones of Scottish life.

An Eye on the Hebrides: An Illustrated Journey

By Mairi Hedderwick (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked An Eye on the Hebrides as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Mairi Hedderwick embarks on a six-month-long journey to 40 islands from Arran to Lewis, recounting her pilgrimage around the archipelago of the Western Isles with which she has had a lifelong love affair.

Filled with wit and wisdom that is matched by her spell-binding illustrations, Mairi Hedderwick portrays the islands in all their diversity, with swift and perceptive cameos of everyday life drawn with humour and affection alongside gorgeous landscapes which capture the truly magical beauty of the Hebrides.

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The Scottish World: A Journey Into the Scottish Diaspora

By Billy Kay,

Why did I love this book?

I value this book because, since joining the United Kingdom in 1707, much of Scottish history has been disregarded. Even though I studied history in my Scottish school to a high level, the details of our past were replaced with English history. Well-known radio personality, Billy Kay, brings together a wealth of information about Scotland’s outside influence through the ages. Scotland was one of the first countries to see the benefit of an educated working class, and in the countries to which they emigrated, their learning stood them in good stead. Scottish culture, over hundreds of years before it was incorporated into the United Kingdom, had well-established cultural centers throughout Europe and even as far as Russia.

The Scottish World: A Journey Into the Scottish Diaspora

By Billy Kay,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Scottish World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Thaim wi a guid Scots tongue in their heid are fit tae gang ower the warld'

In The Scottish World, renowned broadcaster Billy Kay takes us on a global journey of discovery, highlighting the extraordinary influence the Scots have had on communities and cultures on almost every continent.

While others have questioned the self-confidence of the Scots, Kay has travelled the world from Bangkok to Brazil, Warsaw to Waikiki and found ringing endorsements for the integrity and intellect, the poetry and passion of the Scottish people in every country he has visited.

He expands people's view of Scotland by relating…

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European history

Dirt & Deity: Life of Robert Burns

By Ian McIntyre,

Why did I love this book?

This is an extensive biography of Scotland’s celebrated bard, Robert Burns, and includes a collection of unpublished letters. Scotland’s own “heaven taught ploughman,” gave life a run for its money, giving us in his few but fruitful years lines of poetry that match Shakespeare himself.

Oh, would some

Power the giftie

gie us

To see ourselves as

Others see us!

McIntyre gives Burns a good shot. No Scottish writer, including myself, could think of their career trajectory without Robert Burns standing out prominently along that line. He gave us the gift of hubris and the gift of the poetic gab.

Dirt & Deity: Life of Robert Burns

By Ian McIntyre,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dirt & Deity as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This biography illuminates and explores the complexities and contradictions of Burns's character and personality, untangling the myth from the legend. Based on new evidence from 700 letters Burns wrote during his life, McIntyre concentrates on the circumstances of the writing of poetry itself, and paints a vivid picture of Burns's emotional and impulsive political views, the cruelty and gentleness of which he was capable, stressing the importance and the quality of the satirical poetry as well as the unforgettable love poetry immediately associated with his name.

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Consider the Lilies

By Iain Crichton-Smith,

Why did I love this book?

The writing of Iain Crichton Smith is personal to me because he used to teach at my Highland alma mater Oban High School. I knew he was a well-known writer when I would see him in the corridors and that held quite a bit of fascination for me. The year I left that school, he also went his own way and would be awarded an Order of The British Empire medal in short order. Crichton Smith is another of Scotland’s under-celebrated, but powerfully evocative, writers, and Consider The Lillies is his most famous novel. This story takes place at the time of the Highland Clearances, when the new Scottish aristocracy drove peasants from the land they had crofted for generations, in order to graze sheep for better profits. Ian Crichton Smith delves into the heartbreak of an old woman in her last days in her croft, remembering a life soon to be lost.

Consider the Lilies

By Iain Crichton-Smith,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Consider the Lilies as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

50th anniversary edition of a true modern classic.

'Vividly depicted ... sheer beauty' OBSERVER

'A masterpiece of simplicity' FINANCIAL TIMES

'A simple but noble book ... this deserves to be read' SCOTSMAN

'When she rose in the morning the house at first seemed to be the same. The sun shone through the curtains of her window. On the floor it turned to minute particles like water dancing. Nevertheless, she felt uneasy ...

What had the girl said? Something about the 'burning of houses'. They just couldn't put people out of their houses, and then burn the houses down. No one…

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5 book lists we think you will like!

The best Scottish historical fiction written in the 20th century

The best books which celebrate the Scots language and dispel monoglot ignorance forever

The best books which prove that the world is Scottish…and the Universe too

The best Scottish books about moments of madness

The best books for the walking the wild side of the Scotland-England borderlands

Interested in Scotland, modernity, and Scottish people?

9,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Scotland, modernity, and Scottish people.

Scotland Explore 267 books about Scotland

Modernity Explore 40 books about modernity

Scottish People Explore 27 books about Scottish people

And, 3 books we think you will enjoy!

We think you will like Flemington, Concise English-Scots Dictionary, and Docherty if you like this list.

Flemington

By Violet Jacob,

From the list on Scottish historical fiction from the 20th century.

By Ursula Buchan Author

Why did Ursula love this book?

D.K. Broster dedicated The Flight of the Heron ‘To Violet Jacob in homage’. Violet Jacob’s Flemington (published in 1909) must be the most underrated novel about the Jacobite rising written in the 20th century. Jacob (probably best known these days as a vernacular poet) was born and bred in Angus on the east coast of Scotland, and her tale is set there; unusually it is mostly told from the Whig point of view. Again it is one of agonisingly divided loyalties. The descriptions of the landscape are pure poetry, but there is humour, nerve-jangling tension, and apt characterisation as well.

Flemington

By Violet Jacob,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Flemington as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

MR. DUTHIE walked up the hill with the gurgle of the burn he had just crossed purring in his ears. The road was narrow and muddy, and the house of Ardguys, for which he was making, stood a little way in front of him, looking across the dip threaded by the water. The tall white walls, discoloured by damp and crowned by their steep roof, glimmered through the ash-trees on the bank at his right hand. There was something distasteful to the reverend man’s decent mind in this homely approach to the mansion inhabited by the lady he was on…

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Concise English-Scots Dictionary

By Scottish Language Dictionaries,

From the list on celebrating the Scots language.

By Billy Kay Author

Why did Billy love this book?

The various Scots dictionaries produced by Scottish Language Dictionaries and also available online are a veritable treasure trove of Scottish culture and the go-to place for anyone who writes Scots or wants to know about Scots. With quotations going back hundreds of years it gives you instant access to the rich literature and prose in a language still spoken by over 1.5 million Scots.

Concise English-Scots Dictionary

By Scottish Language Dictionaries,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Concise English-Scots Dictionary as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What do you call a paper bag in Scots? How would you describe a dull day in Scots? This comprehensive dictionary of words and phrases is for all who want to use the Scots language. * A unique dictionary, with 15,000 English-Scots entries * Many examples showing Scots in use * Clear layout, easily understood entries

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European history

Docherty

By William McIlvanney,

From the list on celebrating the Scots language.

By Billy Kay Author

Why did Billy love this book?

Another fine novel by a great writer who, like me, hailed from Ayrshire. I quote from it in my book. I became aware of William McIlvanney when I attended Kilmarnock Academy between 1967 and 1969 and his first novel Remedy is None was passed around the students in their final year at the school, before heading for University. Having a living, breathing novelist living in the town was really something, and it made us all think that perhaps we could become writers too! All of his books are excellent but Docherty touched me personally because it describes a mining community, similar to the town I grew up in, Galston. It also explores the linguistic tension between Scots and English which is the experience of most people growing up in the Lowlands of Scotland.

Docherty

By William McIlvanney,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Docherty as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'His face made a fist at the world. The twined remnant of umbilicus projected vulnerably. Hands, feet and prick. He had come equipped for the job.'

Newborn Conn Docherty, raw as a fresh wound, lies between his parents in their tenement room, with no birthright but a life's labour in the pits of his small town. But the world is changing, and, lying next to him, Conn's father Tam has decided that his son's life will be different from his own.

Gritty, dark and tender, McIlvanney's Docherty is a modern classic.

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Coming soon!

The best Scottish books to lose yourself in the dream that is Scotland

Who am I?

I wrote...

Veil of Time

What is my book about?

The books I picked & why

Why did I love this book?

Why did I love this book?

Why did I love this book?

Why did I love this book?

Why did I love this book?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Scotland, modernity, and Scottish people?

And, 3 books we think you will enjoy!

Who am I?

Ursula's book list on Scottish historical fiction from the 20th century

Why did Ursula love this book?

Who am I?

Billy's book list on celebrating the Scots language

Why did Billy love this book?

Who am I?

Billy's book list on celebrating the Scots language

Why did Billy love this book?