Music in the Dark by Sally Magnusson
If you’re looking for books set in Scotland, Music in the Dark by Sally Magnusson is an absolute must-read. Set during the Highland Clearances, a period of time that we don’t talk about often enough, Music in the Dark follows the character Jamesina Ross, switching back and forth between her early life in Strathcarron and her later years in Glasgow and then Rutherglen. How the two periods of her life connect is not evident straight away, but is gradually revealed as we read deeper into the story, each chapter pulling back another veil, until the full truth of Jamesina’s life finally lies bare before us.
Two Timelines, One Woman
So what is Jamesina’s story? Jamesina Ross lives through the tumult of Scotland’s Highland Clearances, but at what cost? This novel is a beautiful story of trauma and love. But this story unravels gradually. We first meet Jamesina as a talented young girl, full of ambition. She writes her own songs. And then we meet her again in later life. But how did she get there? Why is she alone? And who is the mysterious man who shows up, looking for a place to stay?
What are the Highland Clearances?
Often when we think about Victorian era Britain, we think about the Industrial Revolution, strict social etiquette and global empire. But we rarely touch on the lives of rural communities, especially in remote areas of Scotland.
Yet this era saw huge social change. Landowners turned away from traditional crofting in favour of sheep farming, which was far more lucrative, and thousands of tenant farmers, known as crofters, were forced to leave.
Families who had lived on the same land for generations were given little warning and often no choice. Many were displaced to coastal areas, cities like Glasgow, or forced to emigrate to Canada, America, Australia, or New Zealand.
The human cost was enormous, and the damage to Gaelic-speaking communities and culture was devastating. Music in the Dark centres on one of the most brutal episodes of the Clearances, the eviction at Greenyards, Strathcarron in 1854. It is a story that deserves to be told, and Sally Magnusson tells it with tenderness.
Is It All Doom and Gloom?
Not at all. Music in the Dark is also a story about love. About love finding us when we expect it least. Not only that, but love in later life. But most of all, it’s about never losing the parts of ourselves that make us uniquely us.
Awards for Music in the Dark
Music in the Dark was shortlisted for the Winston Graham Historical Prize and long-listed for the Walter Scott Prize.
You'll Love This If...
Pick this book up if you’re drawn to stories about people who endure. People who find unexpected joy in heavy circumstances. And if you’ve ever finished a book and felt furious that you were never taught about the history within it, Music in the Dark will hit hard.
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