This slightly odd book is a collection of odd anecdotes and poems about the customs (or alleged customs) of the inhabitants of the abandoned Hebridean island of St Kilda, particularly in the period leading up to the evacuation of the remaining population in 1930. It is told within the framework of a story where a man is sent back to the island shortly after the evacuation to guard the deserted houses, as they have been ransacked by fishermen, and he is told these anecdotes by the supposed spirits of the former inhabitants (though they would almost all still have been alive then, presumably). I didn't think this approach works, as it wasn't clear which were "real" stories of the St Kildans and which were invented/embellished/conflated for the purpose of the fictional framework. In a sense, I guess it doesn't matter, but all the same this didn't work for me, despite my long standing fascination for this island and its culture. ( )