Down and out with little prospects, John-Callum McLeod, Cal for short, heads home from art school to help look after his grandmother who lives with his father, John on a small island off the coast of Scotland.

At the outset the writing is exquisite and the reader is immediately immersed into the isolation, desolation and poverty of this tiny god-fearing community.

Cal is a gay man which he hides from his family and slides right back into his home never fully meeting his father’s expectations. Cal’s mother lives further away and what he doesn’t know is the reason his parents split up is because his father is also gay. John lives a tormented and secret life within walking distance from his long-time love.  The secrets of this island have a way of pulling the reader in.

The harshness and isolation is everywhere and the community is stuck in old traditions and fake piousness which settles uncomfortably in a modern world. You could be forgiven for thinking the book is set a hundred years ago but it’s quite current whereas the thinking is not.

Cal’s journey and that of his father unfolds allowing the reader to relate to their everyday life, it’s ups and downs wondering if anything will ever change. Fortunately, it eventually does.  

This is shortlisted for the Booker Prize for 2026 and I’m not surprised. Check this one out.