When They Lay Bare

An piece band, comprising a string quartet and half a dozen of our finest young traditional musicians, are given a score to play that is little more than insipid throughout and rarely exploits the possibilities of the ensemble, although it sounded rather more robust than many of the singers. At the end of a week when arts funding has been at the top of the agenda, it is worth pondering to what better use pounds , might have been put.

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We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments. Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Read the new rules here. Get involved with the news in your community. Synopsis Spied on by the factor of an estate in the Scottish Borders, an unknown woman enters a cottage that has been empty since the violent deaths of its inhabitants more than 20 years ago. She has a set of antique plates which she believes can tell her the truth about the past and what she is to do now.

I really enjoyed this novel.

It has a thriller element to it — and though I guessed one part — I was unprepared for the shocking ending. Beautifully written — using a lot of scots language which sometimes is a tad confusing. In this novel you get a real sense of the border country, the myths, legends and ballads that are part of the traditions and langauge.

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As with the two previous Andrew Greig novels I have read, the central feamle character Marnie is a tough, brittle character, although Marnie is not as likeable as the characters in the other books — you sense right away that she may not have any reedeeming qualities — she is a powerful creation. Posted in Uncategorized Tagged book reviews Leave a Comment. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Twitter account. Feb 19, Carol Aldred rated it liked it.

Good but a bit samey with his first book Electric Brae. Couldn't find the same empathy for these characters and realised the twist too early on the book. Nov 01, Louloune rated it really liked it. Mar 16, Peter rated it liked it. I'm sure its an excellent, well written, book enjoyed by many people. Its just not for me and after several weeks of plodding along I gave up on it. Maybe its the convoluted plot or the slow pace I'm not sure.

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Some of the descriptive writing up to page where I stopped is superb, and I learnt some new scots words as well. Jan 27, Sarapepparkaka rated it really liked it Shelves: This book is full of mysteries. I had a lovely time trying to figure out the connections, and the story. It's set in the Borders region, and part of the story is the borders between the past and the present.

Lay Bare | Definition of Lay Bare by Merriam-Webster

Another part is a set of 8 old plates, and the woman who owns them now. A third part of the story is a father and a son and their relationship. I tried not to read too fast, but eventually I did read the last of the book. So glad it is over.

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I found it a very hard read. Once again I see a book given an average rating of 3. I didn't find the use of the plates to enlighten me as to the moral of the story. I also found it disconcerting that the author decided to use the Joyceian method of writing by not using quotation marks, however the lack of them does not an 'Ulysses' make. Aug 14, Judy rated it really liked it. Set in atmospheric Scottish Borders. Young adults haunted by what they do and don't know of lives of their parents and the ways of the Borderers centuries back.

I read the book quickly, but once finished felt compelled to start it again - somehow to get the most out of it and pick up on the complexities. A story that lingers in one's memory. Dense poetic writing that takes persistence to attune to.

Having been able to proceed with reading each packed sentence only once, the narrative was complex, but intriguing. The denoument was a powerful twist, but not fully satisfying. I'd read this once before, had an impression of enjoying a tale concerning a cottage and plates but remembered little else. This time, therefore, the story came to me as new and full of twisty tension, which delivered more than the anticipated kick.

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Nov 05, Kay Robart rated it liked it. See my review here: Mar 21, Natalya marked it as to-read.