The Oystercatcher Girl

‘Set amidst the spectacular scenery of the Orkney Islands, Gabrielle Barnby’s skilfully plotted first novel is a beautifully understated story of deception and forgiveness, love and redemption.’

‘This literary, mindful novel has a spiritual quality and yet is firmly grounded in everyday predicaments of love, loss and secrets.’

Christina’s story is about life and death, and the messy complications that increase rather than diminish as time goes by. The desire for perfection in herself and other people is in danger of leaving Christine isolated from everyone she loves. Ultimately, her journey to self-knowledge will be irrevocably linked with loss.

‘The longer I live in Orkney the more I love the wild landscape and the lilting dialect, which stings the ear like the wind. I wanted to write about relationships in a way that spoke to everyone no matter where they live.’

The Oystercatcher Girl is available locally from The Orcadian bookshop and Stromness Books and Prints.

Copies can also be found at the Orkney Fossil and Heritage Centre and the Yellowbird Gallery, home of artist John Thompson whose beautiful image is on the front cover.

Buy The Oystercatcher Girl on-line as a paperback or ebook from Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Waterstones and Blackwell’s.

Reviews

Sarah Norquoy – also known as Norq from Ork

Set in Orkney the book is instantly familiar to me as I recognize the unique Orcadian language and words as well as places and names.

The book is ultimately about the fluctuating relationships between friends and family as it sways back and forth between the past and present day covering mental health, complex parent relationships, love, betrayal, and regret. There are wonderful descriptions of Orkney landscape and the challenges and benefits that come with living in a small place. A great one for your Christmas list.

Link to interview

Sara Bailey, author of Dark Water

From the opening and the ‘fleshy light of St. Magnus’ we are drawn in first and foremost by the lyrical, lilting language of this beautifully crafted novel. Barnby wraps us up in her descriptions of places drawn so clearly and with a wonderful visual sympathy.

The story of Christine’s return and the unravelling the stories she and others have told themselves over the years is set against the stunning backdrop of the landscape of Orkney. It intertwines with events and the emotions of the characters. ‘By the time Dad picked us up we were weary. The green-grey horizon rose and fell like the sea as the car swung towards the barriers.’

Secondary characters who stood out for me were Alfred, Tessa’s autocratic father – a terrifying figure in their childhood, who is diminished by age into a pathetic whining would-be monster in old age. Also, Christine’s troubled sister, Lindsay – the wildchild with mental health issues trying to find her way. Both these characters fight their respective demons with an energy that lifts them from the page so much so sometimes that they threatened to upstage the other characters. It is, ultimately, Lindsay, she who is  ‘the master of the trailed fingertip’, who takes us through to the truth of the book and who guides the story towards the end. Her unreliability at the start masking her insight into what has been going on all along.

I couldn’t write about this book without mentioning the use of dialect. Barnby manages to capture the soft, sing-song tones of the Orcadian voice without missing a beat. I can hear those voices as clearly as if they were in the same room and I cannot stress enough how difficult this is to achieve – I am full of admiration for this alone.

The Oystercatcher Girl is an excellent debut novel and a wonderfully evocative and deftly woven Orcadian story.

Lexie Conyngham, author of the Murray of Letho series.

The Oystercatcher Girl is a slow, gently-paced and beautifully written novel, with strong poetic bones. Yet there is suspense there, because it’s not clear what has happened to draw Christine back to Orkney or how and why Robbie, her teenage sweetheart, died, leaving her to look after his widow and child. Christine’s own family is close to dysfunctional, and she is suspicious of old acquaintances, so this is never a comfortable read, with a growing threat in the air which comes into its own in the last few chapters. But the ending is satisfying, and the images of the setting will linger in my mind for a long time.

Link to Indie writer for April: Gabrielle Barnby

Liz Lloyd

Gabrielle Barnby writes in detail of everyday routine, of the beauty of the countryside or sordid appearance of a street and of the confusion Christine feels. Tessa appears to be an enigma; a butterfly or an oystercatcher, scampering with the tide. She gave up music on a whim, she shows little sign of grief for her husband and yet she is a caring mother. We see Robbie through the eyes of others and through a bundle of letters, which hint at the secrets we do not understand.

As the story progresses, Christine finds herself endangered by past deeds. Can she find contentment and a sense of belonging or will happiness be elusive? This literary, mindful novel has a spiritual quality and yet is firmly grounded in everyday predicaments of love, loss and secrets.

For full review go to: Lizanne, Lost in a good book. The Oystercatcher Girl

Amazon reviews

The Oystercatcher Girl is an evocative, beautifully written book that lives up to its wonderfully drawn cover. It starts with a funeral and, throughout the book we follow the lives of Tessa, Christine and her unstable sister, Lindsay. Told from Christine’s point of view, the reader discovers many secrets in a place where secrets are hard to keep. The Orkney landscape is as much a character as the people we come to care about. Gabrielle has captured the essence of being a part of a close community yet remaining on its boundaries. The book is a mystery, a romance and a literary work – and running through its pages, the trilling of Oystercatchers. More Amazon Reviews

The Oystercatcher Girl read by Gabrielle Barnby

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Press release

Q & A about the new book with Dave Gray on Around Orkney, 20th April.

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