âTender, riveting, and inventive is Clear, the newest offering and masterpiece from the brilliant Carys Davies. It will take your breath awayâŚWhat a thrill.â âSarah Jessica Parker
One of Vogueâs Best Books of the Year
A âdaring and necessaryâŚsophisticated and playfulâ (The New York Times) novel from an award-winning writer, Clear is the story of a minister dispatched to a remote island to âclearâ its last remaining inhabitantâan unforgettable tale of resilience, change, and hope.
John, an impoverished Scottish minister, has accepted a job evicting the lone remaining occupant of an island north of ScotlandâIvar, who has been living alone for decades, with only the animals and the sea for company. Though his wife, Mary, has serious misgivings about the errand, he decides to go anyway, setting in motion a chain of events that neither he nor Mary could have predicted.
Shortly after John reaches the island, he falls down a cliff and is found, unconscious and badly injured, by Ivar who takes him home and tends to his wounds. âClear chronicles the surprising bond that develops between these two menâŚpack[ing] a great deal of power into a compact taleâ (The Wall Street Journal) about connection, home, and hopeâin which John begins to learn Ivarâs language, and Ivar sees himself reflected through the eyes of another person for the first time in decades.
Unfolding during the final stages of the infamous Scottish Clearancesâa period of the 19th century which saw whole communities of the rural poor driven off the land in a relentless program of forced evictionsâthis singular novel explores what binds us together in the face of insurmountable difference, the way history shapes our deepest convictions, and how the human spirit can endure despite all odds. Moving and unpredictable, âa love letter to the scorching power of languageâ (The Guardian), Clear is âa jewel of a novelâ (The Washington Post)âa profound and unforgettable read.