An “ingenious, gripping, thoughtful’ novel of island adventure and psychological depth by the acclaimed author of The Sea Road (Boyd Tonkin, Independent, UK).
After fraudulently winning a writing competition, Sidony Redruth is sent by her editor to write the first-ever travel book on Hy Brasil, a near-mythical island somewhere in the Atlantic whose very existence has been a matter of debate as late as the nineteenth century.
Inspired by islands real and imagined—from the Hebrides to Atlantis—Elphinstone’s plot takes Hy Brasil as its starting point, throws in some old-fashioned piracy, a lost treasure, modern-day drug smuggling, political intrigue, an active volcano and a tragic love affair. Told through Sidony’s notes for her book, Hy Brasil has all the elements of an adult adventure story, but it is also a contemporary thriller with literary influences ranging from The Tempest and Treasure Island to Moby-Dick.
“Every other page, it seems, is gilded with erudite detail, bringing the saga templates to life…It’s a refreshing delight to read a novel of such extremely high caliber which interweaves mythical, magical and historical…Elphinstone is a worthy successor to writers like Linklater and Mackay Brown, developing their themes in the new century with a voice which is distinctly her own.”—The Herald, UK
