Fo Fhasgadh Beinn Chianabhail, Morag Ann MacNeil

Longlisted for the 2025 Highland Book Prize

Fo Fhasgadh Beinn Chianabhail: Nuair a tha Coinneach a’ tilleadh chun an eilein às dèidh a bhith air falbh fad bhliadhnaichean, tha e an dùil beatha mhath a dhèanamh dha fhèin ann an seann taigh a sheanmhar. Ach chan fhada gus a bheil e a’ tuigsinn nach eil cùisean gu bhith cho furasta ’s a bha e an dùil. Chan eil sgeul air a’ choimhearsnachd bhig bhlàth air a bheil cuimhne aige, agus chan eil a h-uile duine ann am Baile a’ Chamais cho dèidheil air a’ choigreach a th’ air tighinn nam measg.

Chan fhada cuideachd gus a bheil rudan neònach a’ tachairt dha, a tha ga fhàgail fo eagal is fo imcheist. Tha e air a bhuaireadh le trioblaidean, agus cuideachd le Ella bheag bhalbh, a tha beò ann an saoghal dhi fhèin is i a’ cur seachad a beatha a’ ruith nam monaidhean a’ lorg shìthichean.

A bheil Coinneach a’ dol às a chiall, no a bheil sradag fìrinne anns na h-uirsgeulan os-nàdarrach a bhiodh e a’ cluinntinn aig a sheanmhair nuair a bha e beag? A rèir coltais, cha ghann na rùintean-dìomhair a tha Beinn Chianabhail a’ cleith.

When Kenneth returns to the island after being away for years, he plans to make a good life for himself in his old house. But he soon realizes that things are not going to be as easy as he had hoped. There is no sign of the warm little community he remembers, and not everyone in Baile a’ Chamais is so fond of the stranger who has come among them. It is not long before strange things happen to him, which leave him frightened and confused. He is haunted by problems, and also by little Ella, who lives in a world of her own and spends her life running the moors in search of fairies. Is Kenneth losing his mind? Or is there a spark of truth in the supernatural legends he used to hear from his grandmother when he was little? Apparently, Ben Chianabhail holds many secrets.

Mòrag Anna NicNèill is originally from Horgabost in Harris, although she now lives in Barra. She taught Gaelic for over 25 years but now writes full-time. She won the New Writers’ Award from the Scottish Book Council and the Scottish Book Trust in 2015, and has since won several other awards, including the Chrisella Ross Memorial Award for Artair sa Chaisteal in 2018, and the award for best fiction at the 2020 Literary Awards for An Tiortach Beag agus Sgeulachdan Eile