Product Description

Between Grandmother Mountain and the cold sea, Alaia and her family live off the land. But when one of her brothers goes hunting and never returns, the fragile balance of life is upset. Half-starved and maddened with grief, Alaia's mother follows her visions and goes in search of her lost son. Then a stranger from a rival tribe appears on their hearth seeking shelter. Are his stories of a great wave and a people perished really to be believed? What else could drive a man to travel alone between tribes in the depths of winter? Hopes of resolution come when Alaia's mother returns home as a Go-Between, one able to commune with the spirits. But as all the Auk people come together for their annual Gathering Night, who there will listen to the voice of a woman? "The Gathering Night" is a story of conflict, loss, love, adventure and devastating natural disasters. This utterly enchanting pre-historical novel is set deep in our stone-age past, but resonates as a parable of our troubled planet 8000 years on.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28382 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
'Gripping, its mix of reality and myth reminiscent of Louis de Bernieres.' Scotland on Sunday (on Hy Brasil)

About the Author
Margaret Elphinstone is the author of nine previous novels, including Light, Voyageurs and The Sea Road. Her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies.

Customer Reviews

Really makes you think
Really makes you think. How do you research a book set so far in the past? Yet everything in this novel is believable. A very well crafted story that gives a real insight into how life may have been for modern humans living in Scotland 5000 years ago.

It's people, not places . . .
This has been a pretty good holiday read. The book has a decent plot and an unusual setting (the mesolithic era). I do have to admit to being a little disappointed that it is more about people and less about their surroundings than I had hoped for. Margaret Elphinstone has a real but in this book under-used talent for descriptive writing, which is a pity when she has been clever enough to pick such a potentially fascinating setting for her story. But perhaps that's because I'm a bloke?The Gathering Night

The Gathering Night
Margaret Elphinstone writes about what she knows. Her research is impeccable for every one of her novels. All of which I recommend for a "different" kind of read. This latest one, The Gathering Night, is dreamlike but realistic, exciting and emotional, and moves along with one thinking one knows just what is going to happen, and perhaps it did.... like a forgotten memory.