Hy Brasil — Margaret Elphinstone

An “ingenious, gripping, thoughtful' novel of island adventure and psychological depth by the acclaimed author of The Sea Road (Boyd Tonkin, Independent, UK).

After fraudulently winning a writing competition, Sidony Redruth is sent by her editor to write the first-ever travel book on Hy Brasil, a near-mythical island somewhere in the Atlantic whose very existence has been a matter of debate as late as the nineteenth century.

Inspired by islands real and imagined -- from the Hebrides to Atlantis -- Elphinstone's plot takes Hy Brasil as its starting point, throws in some old-fashioned piracy, a lost treasure, modern-day drug smuggling, political intrigue, an active volcano and a tragic love affair. Told through Sidony's notes for her book, Hy Brasil has all the elements of an adult adventure story, but it is also a contemporary thriller with literary influences ranging from The Tempest and Treasure Island to Moby-Dick.

“Every other page, it seems, is gilded with erudite detail, bringing the saga templates to life…It's a refreshing delight to read a novel of such extremely high caliber which interweaves mythical, magical and historical…Elphinstone is a worthy successor to writers like Linklater and Mackay Brown, developing their themes in the new century with a voice which is distinctly her own.” -- The Herald, UK