Publisher's Synopsis
An incomer to Shetland tells his remarkable story of life as a crofter (the Laird of Puns o' Farra Twat) in the furthest flung islands of the UK. From the wild crossing from Aberdeen to Sumburgh port, to the perils of a boat with a dead engine, from the hunt for sheep lost in snow under the spell of the Northern Lights in the depths of the darkest winter, to feral cats and angry geese, lovable cows and a bad-tempered goat, a world of magic but also extremely hard grafting emerges within a society that considers itself Viking and where music making, drinking and the fire festival of Uppelyaa happen against the backdrop of a barren but beautiful landscape.
An unusual autobiography - funny and sad at the same time. A page turner too!'Twisting my hand around, I struck like a snake and grabbed! I wish I hadn't. Oh, I wish I hadn't! My hand instantly became an agonised thing of white, blistering fire.' A social maverick takes to the rural paradise of Shetland and hilarity ensues. Charismatic Jim Clarke and his beloved little rosebud escape an urban hell and settle on a remote croft. Cue for enchanting landscapes, truly amazing people and a cast of animals with which no actor wanting to stay in work should perform! Revised edition with additional material and copiously illustrated with the author's own pictures and illuminating poetry set within prose that will take your breath away with laughter, this comi-tragic tale of a doomed attempt to escape the rat-race is a magical experience. Its bitter and poetic beginning gives way to a land of rolling hills and wild winds where men are men and women are, well, as big as the men! Revised version, more pictures, more poems, more fun!
Told in poetry and prose in the words of the Ratscape Traveller and his life's partner, illustrated with drawings and photographs of the beautiful Shetlands.
Jim is also the author of The Chronicles of Wetlund. He claims that it cannot be denied that the fabled island of Wetlund bears an alarming similarity to Shetland. His sequel to the Ratscape Chronicles, The Ratscape Traveller Pursues the Ice Maiden, tells of his adventures in Leicester, and is published by Daybreak Publications on Amazon and Amazon Kindle.
