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Music in the Dark cover art

Music in the Dark

By: Sally Magnusson
Narrated by: Siobhan Redmond
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Summary

1884. In a tenement room and kitchen in the town of Rutherglen, near Glasgow, a woman with stark injuries to her face and her mind, and a man who has recently arrived from America, spend the night together.

As the night progresses, the couple discover that their past lives were once entwined in ways they hadn't realised, and that they are linked by a shared past; the eviction of Greenyards, Strathcarron in 1854. Separately and together the couple reflect on the shocking brutality of the glen's clearance thirty years earlier, exploring notions of love, commitment, trauma and happiness, and discovering what it means to take care of another person's soul.

An audiobook suffused with poetry and based on truth, Music in the Dark looks with searing honesty at love in older age - its cost and its beauties - whilst shedding light on female resistance during the Highland Clearances, and depicting, with poignant empathy, the long-term physical and mental effects the past can have on us.

©2023 Sally Magnusson (P)2023 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critic reviews

"Music in the Dark is a beautifully-written piece of work, achieved with immense skill. The portrayal of Jamesina Ross as she is shattered and put back together by the light-touch constancy of Niall Munro is perfectly balanced. The minute focus on these two individuals tells a huge story of the C19th Highlands, Glasgow and North America that readers will find deeply affecting." (Shona MacLean)

"An engrossing, beautifully written novel about the Highland Clearances and the long-term physical, emotional and psychological damage done to those who were forced from their homes and homeland. Like all good historical fiction, it both illuminates the past and speaks eloquently to the present." (James Robertson, author of The Testament of Gideon Mack)

"A wonderful and moving story, beautifully told...an episode of history brought vividly to life." (Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures)

What listeners say about Music in the Dark

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The quality of the narration.

A wonderful, heart warming story based on real events superbly read by Siobhan Redmond. I would recommend this book to anyone.

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Moving and shocking.

A tender, revealing and sometimes shocking story that reminds us of our shameful Scottish history and the courage of the dispossessed.

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A truly beautiful book

Beautifully written and beautifully narrated. A story based on real events which touches heart and soul.

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Engrossing novel

Fascinating insight into the times of the clearances. Wonderful narration by excellent actor. Thank You

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