Month: January 2016

The old man looked at him wearily in the half-dark of the stone cell. He had been up since five that morning, and the ache in his left hip had not lessened in the least. But still he did not allow himself to sit to pray.… ....Read the rest

Something moving happened the other day. Real winter came here two weeks ago: suddenly the rain changed to snow and the nights became frosted with stars. In the morning, the pond at the bottom of the garden was covered with a pale white ice.… ....Read the rest

Today my newest novel The Well of the North Wind was published by SPCK in London. The strange thing is that the story was written not on the island of Iona (where the novel is set) but in Arctic Norway. Last winter I was staying up north of the Arctic Circle to write another book entirely, about the Sami people of Northern Scandinavia.… ....Read the rest

I spent New Year on my beloved island of Iona in the Scottish Hebrides. I hadn’t been there all year long and, as always, I began to pine for it. I wanted also to spend time hidden away and praying: there are worries and fears in my family, and I needed time alone to think and be still.… ....Read the rest