SHORTLISTED FOR THE SALTIRES FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR LONGLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 'A kaleidoscopic and linguistically daring work . . . Scintillating.' OCEAN VUONG 'A quirky and original debut that sizzles with scintillating prose.' BERNARDINE EVARISTO 'Michael Pedersen is a rare writer of real passion and power and this debut is phenomenal.' MATT HAIG Life on a remote island is turned upside down by a stranger's arrival, testing bonds of family and tradition and leaving a young dreamer's future hanging in the balance. It's no ordinary existence on the rugged isle of Muckle Flugga. The elements run riot and the very rocks that shape the place begin to shift under their influence. The only human inhabitants are the lighthouse keeper, known as The Father, and his otherworldly son, Ouse. Them, and the occasional lodger to keep the wolf from the door. When one of those lodgers - Firth, a chaotic writer - arrives from Edinburgh, the limits of the world the