Summary of Highland River
“Highland River” tells the story of Kenn, a young boy who grows up along the banks of the Dunbeath Water in the Scottish Highlands. The novel follows him from the moment he catches his first salmon, through his experiences as a soldier in the First World War, to his eventual return to Dunbeath as a physicist.
Reasons to read Highland River
“Highland River” is a slow paced, lyrical, and symbolic coming-of-age novel. It is a tribute to the wild nature of Scotland and to a lost way of life. This classic Scottish novel was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1937. Neil M. Gunn is regarded as one of the most important Scottish novelists of the early 20th century. Other notable works by Neil M. Gunn include “Butcher’s Broom” and “The Silver Darlings” – both historical novels about the Highland Clearances of the early 1800s – as well as “Young Art and Old Hector”, and “The Green Isle of the Great Deep”, a philosophical novel set in an imagined Scottish utopia.
Setting: Dunbeath (Scotland, UK)
Original title: Highland River
Year of publication: 1937
Nr of pages: 256
