The Lost Lights of St Kilda
Paperback Published on: 01/10/2020
Price: £9.99
Synopsis
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE RNA HISTORICAL ROMANCE AWARD*
*LONGLISTED FOR THE HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE*
'Desperately romantic, lyrically written and with a fascinating plot' Katie Fforde
Chrissie Gillies comes from the last ever community to live on the beautiful, isolated Scottish island of St Kilda. Evacuated in 1930, she will never forget her life there, nor the man she loved and lost who visited one fateful summer a few years before.
Fred Lawson has been captured, beaten and imprisoned in Nazi-controlled France. Making a desperate escape across occupied territory, one thought sustains him: find Chrissie, the woman he should never have left behind on that desolate, glorious isle.
The Lost Lights of St Kilda is a sweeping love story that crosses oceans and decades, and a testament to the extraordinary power of hope in the darkest of times.
'A gorgeous, melancholy love story' The Times
'An undeniably haunting love story' Sunday Times
Publisher information
- Publisher: Atlantic Books
- ISBN: 9781786499059
- Number of pages: 288
- Dimensions: 199 x 129 x 22 mm
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
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A haunting story of love, and a lost way of life.
In 1927 two young undergraduates from Cambridge spend the summer working on St Kilda, one is Fred Lawson and the other is his friend, and the laird’s son, ... READ MORE
A beautifully written novel that will melt your heart!
I was first introduced to Elisabeth Gifford's writing when I was sent `The Good Doctor of Warsaw'. It is a book that I will cherish forever.
The Lost Lig... READ MORE
Beautifully written story of a lost world
On the remote archipelago of St Kilda the people have struggled to maintain their existence eking what crops they can from the soil, weaving tweed from the... READ MORE
Romantic Love Story
This had me hooked from the cover to the end. Set in 1927 and 1940 covering the beautiful island of St Kilda. Elisabeth describes in great detail the scene... READ MORE
A book to savour
I have very fond memories of Elisabeth Gifford's first book, Secrets of the Sea House. That was a dual timeframe story with a similar setting to The Lost L... READ MORE
Recommended
Wonderful!
This moving and evocative novel remains with you long after the last page.
I feel privileged to have read this beautiful book and recommend it w... READ MORE
I loved every word
I was mesmerised by this book from start to finish. The story predominantly takes place on the remote island of St Kilda where Fred Lawson, a Cambridge stu... READ MORE
Pleasantly surprised
This was in no way my usual read, but the cover was so beautiful that I wanted this book, and after the first look I decided to give it a try, I was glad I... READ MORE
The demise of St Kilda with a long time romamnce
Elisabeth Gifford paints a wonderful picture of St Kilda in the first half of the 20th Century, describing the hardships and eventual forced departure of t... READ MORE
A Whole New World
This book is the very definition of beautifully crafted fiction. Throughout the novel, Elisabeth Gifford’s writing transports you miles and years away from... READ MORE
An elegy for a dying way of life..
There are parts of this novel that read like poetry, and totally transport you to the sights and sounds of St Kilda. It took me back to a trip I made to th... READ MORE
Terrific and beautiful tale
What a beautifully written novel, a lovely warm hug of a book.
I had never heard much about St Kilda until I read this book, but it has inspired me to go... READ MORE
Beautiful and haunting
I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. It was easy to follow and get sucked in to the plot that I read way more than I thought I did in each sitt... READ MORE
Haunting and heart-warming love story
This book perfectly evokes the final few years of island life on St Kilda, in the Outer Hebrides. It really captures the bleak and haunting beauty of this ... READ MORE
This book is a masterpiece
This book transported me to St Kilda as the descriptions of the island and the people on this remote Scottish Island were so well written I felt like I was... READ MORE
Beautiful Story
The Lost Lights is St Kilda
This story is a beautiful love letter to St Kilda and its people. It is a story of a way of life long gone but never to be fo... READ MORE
4 stars ****
This book was out of my usual genre to read, but after reading the first impression I was excited to read it. The cover of The Lost Lights of St Kilda was ... READ MORE
A heart felt story
This is a historical fiction that features several narrators that of the author, Fred, Chrissie (Christina) and her daughter Rachel Anne. Not only do the n... READ MORE
Equally breathtaking and heartbreaking
Right from the beginning I was obsessed with this book. The imagery is simply stunning. I can see St Kilda so vividly in all of it's beauty; I was taken th... READ MORE
Heart warming stunning writing
I simply cannot imagine one person who would not absolutley adore this book.
First of all it is so beautifully written with vivid imagary so strong that I... READ MORE
Beautiful and haunting
What a lovely book - I was captivated by this beautiful island off the coast of Scotland. This is a sweeping love story starting in chapters from 1927 and ... READ MORE
A lyrical love story
The Lost Lights of St Kilda tells the story of Fred and Chrissie and how they fell in love on the now isolated island of St Kilda.
Told from both characte... READ MORE
Relocation
The sad thing about this book is that I could see what the author was trying to achieve but it just didn't engage me. Initially I thought I was going to r... READ MORE
Hauntingly beautiful
This was really beautifully written book. It tell athe story of a young man who falls in love while on the Island of At Kilda: remote, isolated and describ... READ MORE
Evocative and well written. Highly recommended
I loved this book. The descriptions of life on St Kilda were so evocative and well written. I could smell the smells and hear the birds crying. I could fee... READ MORE
Beautifully written
I really enjoyed this book, it is a beautifully written love story. It follows the story of 2 main characters; Chrissie and Fred. You really feel like you ... READ MORE
A beautiful setting for a book
What a beautiful setting this book has, I liked hearing about the people and the bird life that lives there. There is an interesting map at the front of th... READ MORE
A wonderful read
I liked the premise for this book and found it a very interesting and enjoyable read. I thought the book was written very well and I was really drawn in t... READ MORE
Wonderful
Wonderful!
This moving and evocative novel remains with you long after the last page.
I feel privileged to have read this beautiful book and recommend it w... READ MORE
Surviva
The island of St Kilda a truly beautiful but remote place to live.
As with anywhere so isolated there comes the hardships for the residents to keep their... READ MORE
Atmospheric and Engaging
Such a beautifully written book that tells its story of love and loss and a yearning to find out more about one's roots: set against the backdrop of a terr... READ MORE
Tender, touching wartime romance
This was a very touching wartime love story.
Chrissie and Fred fall in love while Fred is working on her home island of St. Kilda
But with him serving in t... READ MORE
A love lost in time, a world lost in plain sight
The Lost Lights of St Kilda is a wonderfully told story of friendships, family and lost love.
Elisabeth Gifford paints a beautiful picture of life on St ... READ MORE
Exquisitely written
This book is a beautiful tale, exquisitely written.
The descriptions of St Kilda’s are so evocative that you cannot fail to be exported there, back to a lo... READ MORE
Forgotten Love
St Kilda is an island or actually it's a group of small islands, it's a hundred miles from the British mainland and its the most remote place in the Britis... READ MORE
Beautifully written historical fiction
Having enjoyed reading the opening chapters of this book on Readers First, I used my points to 'buy' the book.
A few weeks later, as I finished the book, ... READ MORE
Wonderfully romantic and beautifully written
I absolutely loved Elisabeth Gifford’s last book The Good Doctor of Warsaw, so I approached her latest novel with eager anticipation; I was not disappointe... READ MORE
Ineffably beautiful, a simply stunning read
I’ve started this review several times now, struggling for words to fully convey how much I loved this book – and I’m beginning to doubt that I have the vo... READ MORE
Small scottish romance
This is a wonderful and heart felt story about a romance set on a small Scottish island.
The descriptions are beautifully done. The characters are wonder... READ MORE
Beautifully written
I dont think I've ever read such a beautifully written book. "The Lost Lights of St Kilda" tells the wonderful story of characters Fred and Chrissie and ho... READ MORE
Beautiful and Poignant
A poignant love story set in the last years of St Kilda's community. Life on Hirta has always been difficult and each victory is hard-won against mother na... READ MORE
The raw beauty of St Kilda
Have you ever been to the Hebrides? This novel takes the reader back to St Kilda, the most remote island which was evacuated many years ago when they neare... READ MORE
Beautiful written
By looking at the cover this is not the type of book I would pick up however when I started to read it I like the way each chapter was based on one of the ... READ MORE
Mesmerising beautiful
I would like to thank netgalley Atlantic books corvus for the opportunity to have read the lost lights of St. kilda before publication.
Having read th... READ MORE
Much recommended
This book is a beautiful depiction of a lost way of life, tied in with a love story.
The Lost Lights of St Kilda follows the story of Chrissie, a young wo... READ MORE
Disappointing
I bought this book expecting it to be a lovely long lost romance between two lovers and it was in theory but it moves a little slowly for my liking. The en... READ MORE
Thoroughly recommended
When I received a copy of this book, I was so looking forward to reading it. The description of the story sounded fascinating and I love novels set in isol... READ MORE
Beautiful
This book is just beautiful. The storytelling is so vivid that the places and people jump off the page.
The story begins with Fred in the war, suffering ... READ MORE
Compelling and beautifully written
This was a really brilliant book, the style of writing kept you hooked throughout to the very end. From the very begining this was a very interesting and c... READ MORE
A beautiful story
This is a beautiful story told over two time periods. It flows well between the two and also between the places. For me the beauty of this was the descript... READ MORE
Lost St Kilda.
A beautifully written historical fiction novel. Elisabeth Gifford has expertly woven together an engrossing fictional story with the true facts and history... READ MORE
Beautifully written
Firstly I have to say how much I love this cover especially after reading the book as it captures the story so perfectly.
The story unfolds in two very dif... READ MORE
Could not have enjoyed this more
What a beautiful yet haunting story, it does a great job to set the scene back on Hirta. Days have passed since I finished the book and I still feel like I... READ MORE
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