The sea takes her husband, now her son wants to follow

I’m not usually a fiction reader, because most of my reading these days concerns the North Highlands, both its past and the life around me today. Living here makes Neil Gunn difficult to ignore, though, and The Silver Darlings was the first of his novels I read. Part of the pleasure is recognising the coast beneath the fictional names, with Dunbeath appearing as Dunster. I know these places well enough to picture where the story is unfolding, but Gunn takes me into households whose lives depended on the same sea I now look out over with guests.

The silver darlings are herring, and for families displaced by the Highland Clearances they offer a chance to make a new living. Catrine has scarcely begun that life when her husband, Tormad, is seized by a naval press gang, leaving her to raise their son Finn without him. As Finn grows up, the boats offer him the prospect of independence and a future of his own, while his mother has every reason to fear what might happen if he goes to sea. I find that relationship particularly poignant, because you can understand them both. What looks like opportunity to the son is another possible loss to the mother who has already had to carry on alone.

There is the possibility of love again for Catrine through the fisherman Roddie, although another seaman is hardly going to give her a life free from worry. Those relationships are what make the book stay with me. You begin to think about the people waiting in the houses as much as the men going out in the boats, and a harbour you know for its view becomes somewhere a family watches for a return. I’d recommend reading it before a visit to the North Highlands, when it can give you something more to look for along the coast, or afterwards if you find yourself wanting to return to places you’ve enjoyed.

It is a substantial book, so give it some time. I’ve since read Highland River and Butcher’s Broom, and I’d particularly recommend the latter if you’re interested in the Clearances. At Dunbeath harbour, the sculpture of Kenn and the salmon brings a scene from Highland River back to the village where Gunn was born, while the black-and-white film of The Silver Darlings, which we discuss separately, gives his fishing community another life on screen. For somebody who usually reaches for a history or a guidebook, I’ve found there is a good deal to learn about this coast by spending time with Gunn’s characters.

To learn more, book one of our North Coast Explorer private tours.