'Clear' is a beautiful, short historical novel set on a remote Scottish island during the 1840s. John Ferguson has, like many other Church of Scotland ministers, defected to the Free Presbyterian Church in protest at the patronage rights of wealthy landowners but, struggling to make ends meet, finds himself on a mission for just such a landowner when he is sent to evict the sole inhabitant of a small island north of Shetland. However, John suffers an accident almost as soon as he arrives, and finds himself dependent on the care of Ivar, who lives alone on the island. Despite their lack of a common language, an increasingly close relationship develops between John and Ivar, as John hides the real reason for his journey to the island. Meanwhile, John's wife Mary becomes more and more anxious as she waits on the mainland for news of John.

Carys Davies stages this intimate drama between the novel's three protagonists with great tenderness, which plays out against the much bigger dramas of the Clearances and the Great Disruption in the Scottish church. The openness of the setting and the sparse dialogue seem to make space for all three characters to feel fully alive. We come to care deeply about all of them and to enjoy the sense of suspended reality as John and Ivar are alone on the island, whilst knowing that the fragile peace they find together cannot last. But despite the feeling of foreboding that builds during the second half of the novel, the novel's ending is surprisingly hopeful.

Not a word is wasted in this excellent and totally absorbing novel. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review!

If like me – and many others - you felt that two of the very strongest books on the 2022 Booker longlist were “Small Things Like These” and “The Colony” then this will I think be a book you savour.

It is the fourth novel by Carys Davies – whose previous novels have received strong media recognition (her last “The Mission House” was the Sunday Times 2020 Novel of the Year) but no Women’s Prize or Booker recognition – at least until now.

As explained in an excellent Author’s note – the book draws on two historical occurrences: the Great Disruption/Disruption of 1843 when a group of some 450-500 evangelical ministers broke away from the established Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland – the main issue in the schism being their resistance to the right of large landowners to award clerical positions on parishes on their estates.

The Lowland and then Highland clearances from the mid 18th to mid 19th centuries as the same landowners systematically cleared smallhold-tenants and the rural poor from their land to replace them with large scale (particularly sheep) farming.

The set up of the book is that one such breakaway minister – John Ferguson – newly impoverished and struggling to work out the economics of his new church (having resigned his paid position) agrees to a job for a landowner (his brother-in-law’s godfather – whose estate have been hitherto laggards in enacting clearances) to travel to a remote Orkney island, survey its suitability for sheep farming and persuade its one remaining inhabitant.

When John first lands on the island and stays in the abandoned Baillie’s cottage (equipped with a crude Scots/English speech, a translated gospel on which he is working, a gun he neither knows or wants to know how to use, and a beloved calotype of his equally beloved wife Mary) – he has an accident on his first day falling off one of the cliffs and is rescued by the person he has come to remove – Ivar – who takes him back to his house and nurses him.

The isolated Ivar (the island’s other inhabitants all having left and even the rent visits from the landowner’s factor having ceased) who had never really thought of himself as lonely and was happy with the company of his horse Pegi - first encounters the picture of Mary and develops deep feelings for her.

So when he two days later finds the unconscious John his initial reaction is confused (as he quickly realises she is his wife) and he hides the photo ………. but as John gradually regains consciousness Ivar realises that his feelings have transferred.

‘I have the cliffs and the skerries and the birds. I have the white hill and the round hill and the peaked hill. I have the clear spring water and the rich good pasture that covers the tilted top of the island like a blanket. I have the old black cow and the sweet grass that grows between the rocks, I have my great chair and my sturdy house. I have my spinning wheel and I have the teapot and I have Pegi, and now, amazingly, I have John Ferguson too.’

And the two form a gradual bond – John trying to suppress in his mind the real truth behind why he came to the Island (he realises that at absolute worst Ivar thinks he has come for rent) and put off the ultimate reckoning when a boat will come to collect him and his evacuee. John is fascinated by Ivar’s Norn tongue with its hugely specialised terms for seas, mists and fogs and the two are able to communicate more and more as time goes on while also drawing emotionally closer.

Meanwhile Mary has always been concerned over John’s acceptance of the job. First on moral grounds – John justifying the clear contradiction between the reasons for joining the free church and his dubious assistance to the very same landowners by a “Render unto Caesar” argument. And then on safety grounds – as she picks up that the landowner’s factor is concerned Ivar may prove violent – and she decides to find a ship that will take her to the Island to bring John home.

In pure word-length terms we learn little of Mary, John and Ivar’s backstory but in practice Davies has a Keeganite ability to summon up a life in only a few sentences.

My only hesitation in an otherwise very strong novel is the speed at which a John still suffering presumably from some after effects of concussion (note that cleverly Davies has John imagining his surgeon friend reacting to what has happened to him “Well, for a start, being a great reader, he would probably have complained about the fashion beloved by the worst kind of contemporary novelists for inflicting catastrophic and prolonged memory loss on their characters–very likely he would have called it a cheap plot device to complicate an already complicated series of events.”) – events that would seem to require months take place over around 3 weeks – but given the depth of Davies research (the catalyst for the book being an early 20th Century Norn dictionary) I suspect this element has been carefully considered also. It did however cause me to feel temporarily taken out of a novel which I think is best read in a single immersive sitting.

During the whole novel, the pistol that John bought with him casts as Chekhovian shadow over the plot, and given current literary trends the direction of John and Ivar’s relationship is both inevitable and perhaps (at least on John’s side) the other unconvincing aspects of an otherwise very authentic tale.

But the way in which Davies navigates both aspects and brings the book to closure is extremely impressive.

Highly recommended.

Set against the stunning background of a remote Scottish island, a hapless and impoverished minister is sent to remove Ivar, the last inhabitant, who has lived in solitude there for decades since the infamous Scottish clearances.
His unexpected and startling arrival sets off an unexpected chain of events and after a series of misunderstandings, with no common language, Ivar and the minister John Ferguson, develop an sensitive and tender connection over time, meanwhile John's no-nonsense and pioneering wife, Mary determines to come to his rescue.
Woven through with black humour and fascinating strands of social history, this is such a beautiful, quiet gem of a novel.

My deep and abiding love for Carys Davies' work continues. Clear is everything I hoped for - a simple but compelling story, characters I felt sympathy for, a stunning piece of historical fiction. Carys Davies never disappoints me.

Clear tells the story of John Ferguson, his wife Mary, and an islander called Ivar whose lives intersect when Ferguson is sent to Ivar's tiny island between Norway and the Shetlands to tell him he must leave.

The story is set during a tumultuous time in Scotland - the Clearances of huge swathes of land as the landowners forced tenants off the land to make way for more profitable pursuits. Ferguson is also a church man who, like others, had split from the Church of Scotland to form the new Free Church.

It's a huge subject to tackle but Carys Davies effortlessly makes it about the characters - their hopes, dreams and loves.

Suffice to say if you loved her previous work you will love this and if you haven't read any before then I highly recommend this beautiful, short, perfectly formed novel.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Granta Publications for the advance review copy. It was well worth the wait since Mission House.

The story is a little unusual as it is a historical novel based during a fairly turbulent time in the Scottish protestant Church.
Wasn't really sure I would enjoy it and to be honest it was a little unusual but I did enjoy it overall.
There is a bit of a twist at the end which was quite good.
If you like historical dramas then this is definitely worth a look.

It's a familiar story - someone is to be forcibly removed from their land and the person tasked to do it is changed during their contact with them.
Carys Davies' short 180 page story focuses on the shameful clearances in Scotland that had rich landowners remove tenants from their land so they could profit more by sheep farming. John Ferguson is the clergyman, needing some cash to set up his own breakaway church, who travels to a remote island between Scotland and Scandanavia where the only inhabitants are Ivar, a horse, a cow and a few mangy chickens.
After John has an accident, a bond builds between the two men as he is nursed back to health and learns to communicate with Ivar through his native Norn language.
The relationship, the tough existence on the island and the natural world around them is brought to immersive detail in the novel. And as John's true purpose and his wife's imminent arrival in search of him threaten to break up their friendship, I became quite anxious and didn't want it to end.
A recommended read for fans of Sarah Moss or Benjamin Myers.

A tale of two men who come together on a remote Scottish island - but Ivar is unaware that John Ferguson has been sent to evict him. As Ivar shares his language, food and way of life, John’s secret becomes a burden that hangs over them both. An atmospheric and tender story, rooted in history.

This couldve been a great novel had it been a bit longer. The writing is great, the characters were interesting (although I felt like the wife character was a bit shoehorned into the story), but everything just happened so quickly. I would've liked to linger more on the important moments, to dwell a little longer on them.

I am a fan of Carys Davies books and really enjoyed the ones I have read. This one set on a remote Scottish Island in the 1840s is no exception , I thought is was brilliant. It’s a short novel but not a word is wasted. John , a Scottish minister goes to the island to evict Ivan the only remaining inhabitant. What follows is a story of friendship, loneliness , survival and a love of nature. I was so touched by the relationship John and Ivar had, the determination to understand each other and communicate. The island is so remote and you can feel the isolation and the love Ivar has for his surroundings. This is set in the time when the poor from rural Scotland where forced to leave their homes, and the determination of the inhabitants to stay . It is a moving, touching novel that I will read again and again .

WOW! It is rare to encounter a novel like this: Shimmering prose, well constructed characters and interesting subject
A fable like novella that goes to very core of the human connection and its limits.

Clear takes place in 1843 the Scottish church disrupted and 474 ministers rebbeled against the system of patronage, one of them is our revered John Ferguson who finds himself in difficult situation: to start from the scratch without any money or support. This situation led him to accept the job of evicting the last its remaining occupant of a remote island beyond the Shetland: Ivar. However the mission doesn't go as it was planned and turned into a self discovery journey for the two of them

Carys's narration is powerful and dense and the story unfolds gracefully. This novel will linger within you for a long time.

An absolutely beautiful story...thanks to Netgalley & publisher for letting me read the eArc pre the publication date.

It's a stunning blend of the 'clearing' theme frim the Booker 23 Shortlist 'This Other Eden' by Paul Harding & the culture, language & visitor themes from Booker 22 Longlist 'The Colony' by Audrey Magee.

However, I thought Carys' story was so much beautiful than both of the Booker books... she so softly captures the deeper emotions of the 2 men involved, from very different backgrounds & cultures. She describes the man living on the island so kindly & didn't use the descriptions of the island community Paul Harding used, which led me to DNF his Booker book.

I loved the language learning, how they cared for each other...it felt like the characters blended into one. The challenge of 'clearing' the island was removed by the love & wanting to share their their lives, despite the challenges this would bring to them.

When I finished reading, I felt like I do after reading Clare Keegan's beautiful short stories. I can see how Carys also capture individual characters, deep emotions & presents these to us so beautifully, that you miss them when you put the book down when finished.

I will definitely be following the authors other writing & would read her books when need to settle a busy mind & life, to remember what it's all about really.

Will recommend this to everyone, is a story I am sure I will not forget.

Left reviews on Goodreads, Storygraph, Patreon on Bookclub Review Podcast, Instagram via social media ref HappyKnitter2020 & will leave further reviews on Amazon & Waterstones.

Clear takes place in 1843, at the time of the Great Disruption in the Scottish Church, where a third of Scottish ministers broke away to form a new Free Church of Scotland.
It was also the time of the clearances, where whole rural communities were forcibly removed from their homes by the landowners to make way for crops and livestock.

John Ferguson, one of the new Free Church ministers is trying to establish a church in his own parish but lacks the finances to do so. In order to make money quickly, he takes on a job of travelling to a remote Scottish Island to clear its last remaining inhabitant.
But he has an accident on his very first day and is rescued by Ivar (the last inhabitant). As Ivar nurses John back to health, their relationship strengthens (despite them not being able to speak each other’s language)and John finds that he cannot bear to let Ivar know of his real reason for his appearance on the island.

I was taken aback by the beauty of this book. The setting, Ivar’s solitary existence and the growing relationship between the men. I was as fascinated as John, to learn the intricacies of Ivar’s language (Norn - once spoken on the islands of Orkney and Shetland). And I was interested to find out about the Great Disruption and the Clearances.
Clear was quite a short book, but I could have very happily keep reading, so strong was my connection to the characters.

Clear is a heart warming book of the fragile world we have and do live in. How Two people who do not speak the same language learn to get by. It shows the warmth that one human can have with another under difficult circumstances.

The clearances in Scotland were brutal, when all the gentry with estates decided to replace people with sheep.

Would love a follow on, seeing what happens to the three, Ivan, John and Mary.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book.

A thoroughly enjoyable, if not very quick read. The storyline and the descriptions of the island were just beautiful. The way in which the relationship between John and Ivar developed was a joy to read and despite the book having a LGTBQ+ label, I personally didn’t get this impression and felt that the near love that Ivar feels for John is purely as another human being who has arrived in his world at a time when he was at his most alone.
The ending I also felt was perfect.

Clear begins on an island off the coast of Scotland, where a cow, some sheep and a few chickens roam. Decades ago, people lived there too, but only one tenant, a man in his forties, remains. For years no one has come to collect the rent for the land he uses, and he has grown accustomed to the loneliness. But now a second person enters the story: A minister who has come in an official capacity and who quickly and literally loses his footing, entering into an unusual relationship with a man whose language he doesn't speak and whose life he is about to destroy. As the novel progresses, we learn about the minister's wife, the reasons for his current predicament, and about the mid-19th century Scottish Clearances, when wealthy landowners forcibly evicted and often destroyed entire rural communities.

This is a quiet, powerful novel. Not much is explained at the beginning, and the tableau unfolds slowly (if you can call it that at 150 pages or so.) I really enjoyed how the relationship - first marked by the novelty of being seen, and then developing into a slow understanding - progressed, and how the back story and Mary the wife were introduced. These people felt real and their problems seemed real.

This was almost a five star read - great prose, fantastic construction, clear emotion - but the ending felt a bit rushed. I think it suits the characters, but it all came very suddenly and left me feeling like the book needed maybe another 15 or 20 pages to really do the story justice.

But I am very impressed with Carys Davies and will definitely be picking up her next (and older) books.

Novella springboarded by the Highland clearances of the 19th Century. 3.5 rating raised

Davies has created an interesting fiction here, around two social and political movements of the mid nineteenth century, which also makes certain other nods to earlier fictions about isolation and island lives – I did find myself thinking about Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.

John Ferguson has joined the radical breakaway Free Church of Scotland. He needs money though, to build his community and his church, so finds himself temporarily employed by a rich landowner who is part of the powerful class wreaking devastation on subsistence small-holder farmers. He is sent to a remote fictitious island, far beyond the Shetlands, which now has only one inhabitant, a man whose family have all long moved on and away, emigrated or died, as scratching even the bleakest of livings had become impossible, due to the greed and inhumanity of those absent landlords. Ivar has lived alone, with his horse, Pegi, and a very few other grazing animals. He does not know it, but even this is to be taken away from him, and John is to be the messenger to deliver the news.

There is a further problem. Ivar speaks no English, nor does he speak any mainland Gaelic language. He is one of the very few living speakers of an island language all but gone by the 1840s

My challenge with this book is that though the difficulties and unpredictability of this sort of isolated life are beautifully done, and the tentative friendship between the two men wonderfully and plausibly created, it did feel in some way as if it lost its hold on realism through the detailed and rapid focus on how the two men learned to speak each other’s language enough to explore a wealth of complexity in the period of some 3 and a bit weeks. This was an aspect which felt far less credible, and was at odds with the very physical descriptions of cutting turf, fishing and weaving which were interesting and credible. I think the book foundered a little on the author’s wanting to include far too much of the fruits of her linguistic researches.

Characterisation of her 3 major protagonists, Ivar, John, and Mary, John’s wife back in the mainland, was excellent

This brief yet powerful novel explores a plot similar to Paul Harding's This Other Eden but, in my opinion, outshines it. Instead of the coast of Maine, the story unfolds off the shores of Scotland in the 1840s, a period marked by the removal of communities from islands by the Scottish landed gentry for more profitable endeavors like sheep-rearing.

The protagonist, John, a down-on-his-luck clergyman, accepts a lucrative offer to clear the last inhabitant, Ivar, from an island. However, a twist of fate leads to John being cared for by the very man he was meant to displace. The narrative beautifully delves into the complexities of isolation and companionship, especially as the two characters grapple with language barriers. John's earnest attempt to learn Ivar's language unveils nuances and differences, particularly in weather-related terms, and I really loved that aspect of the novel.

At the same time, we see snapshots of John's wife, Mary, starting to question whether he's been given an unfeasibly task, and so she embarks on a journey to retrieve him from the island. The narrative culminates in a well-earned crescendo, delivering a highly satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended!

Clear is easily one of the best books I read in 2023. Clocking in at about 150 pages, it’s a testament to Carys Davies’ skill that she can give you something that feels more developed and in-depth, with more vibrant characters, than a lot of full-length novels can.

The plot itself is reasonably simple: set amidst the Scottish Clearances of the 19th century, John Ferguson, an impoverished minister for the Free Church of Scotland (a recent breakaway from the Church of Scotland), finds himself tasked with clearing the final occupant, Ivar, off an island around the Shetlands for the landowner. But things don’t quite go to plan: John Ferguson finds himself injured, Ivar doesn’t speak English or Scots, and John’s wife Mary soon discovers there might be more to the task than they were informed of.

What struck me on first reading this one, way back in September, was just how clearly Davies’ words invoked the setting of the Shetlands and the relationships between the characters. This is, I stress, a book that’s only 150 pages long! And yet, in just a few sentences Davies can bring to life the 19th century Scottish Highlands, making you feel like you’re also there on that lonely island alongside Ivar, John and Mary.

That same applies to the characters. There’s only occasional physical description of the characters here, just enough for you to get an idea of them in your mind, but even if there wasn’t, this is a book where, I contend, the sense of character you get from them in their POVs would be enough. I think the mark of a good writer is feeling like you don’t need anything to happen in the book. Simply living with the characters for a while is more than enough. That’s definitely the case here.

I reread this book before writing this review in an attempt to write something that would do this book justice. I’m not sure I’ve managed because, as it turns out, I’m not able to put into words just how much I loved it. You have to experience this book, you have no choice but to, if you want to find out what I’m on about. As for me, I know this is going to be one I’ll be thinking about for a long while to come.

An atmospheric novella set in a remote fictional Scottish island around the time of the Highland Clearances in the mid 19th century. John has given up a secure future to join other minsters in the breakaway Free Church of Scotland. Having no money he takes on a job that involves staying on and surveying a small island then at the end of his stay persuading the lone inhabitant, Ivar, to leave. Most of the action is set on this island where the two keep secrets from each other. However John has a love of languages and decides to try and decipher the strange dialect that Ivar speaks, which leads to then communicating a lot, which John realises is going to make his final task difficult .John’s wife who remains on the Mainland becomes concerned about the reasons that led to John being sent to the island and decides to become involved..
The relationship between two people confined on a small island in very basic habitation is well described and feels very realistic. A discovery by Ivar towards the end of the book makes it look likely that things will come to a violent conclusion and there are quite a few possible outcomes. I was surprised by the ending but i liked it.
I enjoyed reading the book over two evenings and although some of the long descriptions of of the translation of the local dialect were a bit uninteresting, they can be quickly skimmed over.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Absolutely perfect novella and one of my favorite reads of the year. Clear is a stunning example of the novella structure and how it is a perfect art form. Davis packs such a punch in 150 pages with lyrical language and a tender love story Clear has got to be one of the best books coming out in 2024

We follow John who is tasked to evict Ivan the last remaining inhabitant on an island on the very top of Scotland. Ivan is living a very lonely existence until John fumbles his way into his life. It is heartfelt and beautiful and the perfect read for an afternoon.

I am so lucky to have been able to read this one early and I have nothing but praise.