Loud Halo (Rpnd)

Lillian Beckwith provides a charming and memorable addition to the "writer encounters pleasingly eccentric foreign rural culture" genre; but while Peter Mayle writes about his encounters in Provence, and Frances Mayes writes about Tuscany, Beckwith's encounters are with the people of Bruach, an lonely island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.To my mind, Beckwith is by far the best of the bunch. She writes without the condescension that sometimes mars others in this genre, and her descriptive prose is really outstanding. You really get a sense of the smell, the light, the "feel" of life on a small Scottish croft (farm). My main caution is that "Loud Halo" is the 3rd of a series of books on the same subject, so I did feel a little as though I had been dropped into the middle of a conversation; characters presumably carefully introduced in the earlier volumes Beckwith assumes you know well at this point, which is sometimes a bit confusing. Thus, you might be better off starting with "The Hills Is Lonely" then carrying on only if Beckwith suits you (I predict she will).

The Loud Halo picks up from the Ms. Beckwith's earlier books THE HILLS IS LONELY and THE SEA FOR BREAKFAST. This is the third of the series, I read them in order and am glad I did! The kettle is on the fire, a delightful strupak awaits the reader! Come into the charmed croft life of the spinster school teacher, milking the cows, gathering the eggs, beachcombing and gathering hay. The antics of the sheep and cows are much more amusing that than of a miserly English visitor (with a doctor of divinity and not an ounce of human kindness). The gentle nuances of language keep the reader smiling - "just a dress she inhabited from her granny when she died." Or "corp" the singular of "corpse." The book also contains a delightful little list of Gaellic translations and pronounciations. While the story is a delight, significant clouds appear on the horizon - progress looms in the form of electricity and water supply, the 20th century is trying to intrude. Alas, lady in distress, who might be the companion? --Silly Old Cailleach Mamalinda