“One of the great novels in the Scottish canon . . . that asks profound questions about how our narratives, personal and national, ought to be made” (Scottish Review of Books).
 
A leech, a pirate, a predator, an anti-Christ, a public benefactor, and the fisherman’s friend; such is Gillespie Strang in this remarkably powerful Scottish novel. Gillespie is the harsh prophet of the new breed of Scottish entrepreneur, prepared to use any means to achieve his insatiable ambition amongst the nineteenth-century fishing communities of the west coast. John MacDougall Hay (1881-1919) was born and raised in Tarbert, Loch Fyne, upon which he based the setting for Gillespie. A Church of Scotland minister, his knowledge of such communities and his somber vision of good and evil shape this, his finest novel.
 
“J. Macdougall Hay has set a tragic tale, which, for sheer relentlessness, it would be difficult to find a parallel.” —The Times
 
“A sprawling masterpiece which thunders with truth and authenticity.” —Life and Work
 
“It is a mighty novel, demonstrating Hay’s command of sensuous descriptive narrative and symbolism.” —Scotsman