The Silver Invicta

BY TOM HARLAND POLARIS £17.99 ★★★★★

I envy writers who can put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and effortlessly write beautiful prose – more so when it’s a work of non-fiction. Harland appears to have this particular gift, turning his anecdotes of fishing on Scotland’s rivers and its lochs into evocative stories that almost read like poetry.

In fact, I read The Silver Invicta as I would a love story, finding myself deeply invested in Harland’s relationship with Scotland’s waterways and the fish swimming within. Each of his angler’s tales is full of sentiment, bursting with vivid details that bring the natural world to life and complete with both the joys and trials and tribulations of his adventures.

It has been some years since I last fished (in Canada’s lakes and rivers) with my father, but Harland’s eloquent storytelling has me longing to put on some waders and cast my own line. Well worth a read, angler or not.