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I returned to this book after visiting Ardnamurchan not just because I wanted a reminder of that starkly beautiful place but because I was haunted by Alistair Maclean's portrait of his father, which dominates the first half of the book. His upbringing could not be more different from my own, but the perceptive observations on the relationships between children and their parents struck a very resounding chord. The evocation of landscape is equally accurate, as anyone who has been to the wind-whipped hamlet of Sanna will appreciate. The second part which deals with Maclean's return to Ardnamurchan and his struggle to live and work there, is a little hard going, but worth persevering with. His sense of humour is also an unexpected bonus in what could be a relentless read. A minor quibble about the cover photograph - very pretty and Colin Baxter but nothing like as appropriate as the original edition which was all shrunken crofts and overbearing cliffs. But a big hurrah to the publishers for unearthing what was the Lord Lucan of Scottish travel writing - the book I'd heard much about but had to wait years to actually read and have my own copy of.
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