Canongate Books
Available: 05/18/18
5.67 x 8.66 · 240 pages
9781786891877
CDN $32.95
· cl
With dust jacket
Sal
WINNER OF THE THE SALTIRE SOCIETY FIRST BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD
AN OBSERVER ' NEW FACE OF FICTION 2018'
'Just wonderful . A breath of fresh air in a book. Sal is a story with incredible heart, told so beautifully and with such clarity and grace I can hardly believe it's a debut! I loved it' JOANNA CANNON, author of THE TROUBLE WITH GOATS AND SHEEP
Sal planned it for almost a year before they ran. She nicked an Ordnance Survey map from the school library. She bought a compass, a Bear Grylls knife, waterproofs and a first aid kit from Amazon using stolen credit cards. She read the SAS Survival Handbook and watched loads of YouTube videos.
And now Sal knows a lot of stuff. Like how to build a shelter and start a fire. How to estimate distances, snare rabbits and shoot an airgun. And how to protect her sister, Peppa. Because Peppa is ten, which is how old Sal was when Robert started on her.
Told in Sal's distinctive voice, and filled with the silent, dizzying beauty of rural Scotland, Sal is a disturbing, uplifting story of survival, of the kindness of strangers, and the irrepressible power of sisterly love; a love that can lead us to do extraordinary and unimaginable things.
Mick Kitson was born in South Wales, and studied English at university before launching the prolific 80s pop band, The Senators, with his brother Jim. He worked as a journalist for several years, then went on to become an English teacher. His debut novel, Sal, was the winner of the Saltire First Book Award. Mick lives in Fife, Scotland.