Lachlan's War

On a wintry evening in 1941 Dr Lachlan McCready is on his rounds in the remote Scottish village of Rassaig when he comes across a silent, frightened evacuee boy who is trying to survive in one of Rassaig's poorest homes. Lachlan, also scarred by loss, sees that desperate times call for desperate measures and decides to take him under his wing. Meanwhile, down the road, some very different newcomers have turned up - three English land girls have `come to help' much to the delight of the young men and to the consternation of the local religious firebrands. Soon it becomes clear that these four strangers will change the village forever as the war that had seemed so far away begins to cast its long shadow over windswept Rassaig. Heartbreaking and funny in equal measure, Michael Cannon's novel brilliantly depicts the way in which war darkens the lives of the innocent on even the most distant shores. Gloriously written, clear-eyed and yet deeply compassionate, Lachlan's War is a rare gem of a novel.