All islands have their secrets. This one has more than most.
When Fingal McMillan rows out into the Atlantic never to return, his grandson Alexander is left with questions. What really happened to Alexander's mother? Was his grandfather trying to reach The Looming, a rock of local myth? And why have mysterious words appeared on the cliff by the bay?
Alexander is not the only local boy whose origins are clouded by mystery - a mystery which stretches back to Victorian times, when a pioneering travel writer alighted on Scottish shores. But will the island give up its secrets? Or will Ivor Punch - the man who links the past to the present - take them to the grave?
Read MoreA truly original and enthralling novel. Ivor Punch is a magnificent creation and his story is mischievous, sad, funny and truthfulTragedy and superstition hang over the characters like a mist, and the sea laps against every page... Beguiling - INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAYWitty, shocking, curious and wry, it is a multi-faceted novel that delights at every turn... A thing of genius and wonder. - WE LOVE THIS BOOKMacIntyre is a storyteller with a unique imagination and has created a genuinely heartfelt novel with some standout elements of dark comedy - THE LISTHe writes with a clarity of style - THE SCOTSMANWe meet a pioneering female writer, two fatherless boys, a man who fell from the sky and, of course, the prolific letter writer Ivor Punch - THE BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTHThe Punch family history is both fascinating and sad. The book is interesting, funny, has a famous cameo and keeps you reading, and it's only when you reach the end of the final chapter that the Punch family history falls into place... The characters are original, well-written, and it's one of those books you want to re-read after you've finished it - New Books