The Bass Rock
If you’ve yet to discover the power of 2014 Miles Franklin Award winner, novelist Evie Wyld, this is the book to dive into. The lives of three women across 300 years are entangled in a complex tale of witches, sex, violence and sacrifice, beneath Scotland’s rather spooky Bass Rock. While the scale is ambitious, the writing pulls you in to a tale where patriarchy comes under the microscope. Newly-wed Ruth finds herself trapped in a big house by the sea looking after the two sons of her often-absent husband. Is there a presence in this edifice of secrets or is she going insane? Jump forward 50 years and Viv is going through her grandmother Ruth’s belongings. And then centuries earlier in the 1720s, a priest and his son are trying to help Sarah from being burnt at the stake for witchcraft. An engrossing read.