Table of Contents
About The Book
A New York Times Book Review Top 10 Historical Fiction Book of 2024
A Vogue, The Washington Post, NPR, Kirkus Reviews, The Guardian, and The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Best Book of the Year
Winner of the 2024 Bookmark Festival Book of Year
Shortlisted for the 2024 Books Are My Bag Award, the Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown Award, and the Saltire Society Literary Award
Longlisted for Blackwell’s Book of the Year
A “daring and necessary…sophisticated and playful” (The New York Times) novel from an award-winning writer, Clear is the story of a minister dispatched to a remote island to “clear” its last remaining inhabitant—an unforgettable tale of resilience, change, and hope.
John, an impoverished Scottish minister, has accepted a job evicting the lone remaining occupant of an island north of Scotland—Ivar, who has been living alone for decades, with only the animals and the sea for company. Though his wife, Mary, has serious misgivings about the errand, he decides to go anyway, setting in motion a chain of events that neither he nor Mary could have predicted.
Shortly after John reaches the island, he falls down a cliff and is found, unconscious and badly injured, by Ivar who takes him home and tends to his wounds. “Clear chronicles the surprising bond that develops between these two men…pack[ing] a great deal of power into a compact tale” (The Wall Street Journal) about connection, home, and hope—in which John begins to learn Ivar’s language, and Ivar sees himself reflected through the eyes of another person for the first time in decades.
Unfolding during the final stages of the infamous Scottish Clearances—a period of the 19th century which saw whole communities of the rural poor driven off the land in a relentless program of forced evictions—this singular novel explores what binds us together in the face of insurmountable difference, the way history shapes our deepest convictions, and how the human spirit can endure despite all odds. Moving and unpredictable, “a love letter to the scorching power of language” (The Guardian), Clear is “a jewel of a novel” (The Washington Post)—a profound and unforgettable read.
Excerpt
He wished he could swim—the swimming belt felt like a flimsy thing and it had been no comfort to be told not to worry, the men couldn’t swim either.
Each time they rose he glimpsed the rocky shore, the cliffs, the absence of any kind of landing; each time they descended, the rocks vanished and were replaced by a liquid wall of gray.
He closed his eyes.
Thump.
Dear God.
He clung to the gunwale as they began to climb again and he saw, above the cliffs, a thousand birds soaring and wheeling. When the little boat tipped, and plunged into the hollow trough on the other side, he knew it would be for the last time.
But after an hour on what one of the men described later as “an uppity sea,” John Ferguson found himself safely deposited, along with his satchel and his box, on the narrow strip of sandy beach that turned out, in spite of appearances, to exist in the shadow of the monstrous cliffs.
Oh the relief of feeling solid ground beneath the soles of his soaking shoes!
Oh the relief of watching the water pour off his coat onto the hard-packed sand, and seeing, in the distance—as Strachan said he would—the Baillie house, pale and almost luminous in the silvery murk of the afternoon.
With freezing fingers he unbuckled the swimming belt and tossed it cheerfully into the boat. He loosened his neckcloth and wrung it out and put it back on again. He squeezed the sea, as best he could, out of the sleeves and pockets of his coat and jumped up and down a few times in his sodden footwear in an effort to warm up. He thanked God for his deliverance.
All that remained now, before the men pushed off back across the boisterous water to the Lily Rose, was for one of them to carry his box while he followed with his satchel, picking his way over the rocks like a tall, slightly undernourished wading bird, thin black hair blowing vertically in the persisting wind, silently talking to his absent wife:
“You see, Mary, it is all right. I am here. I have arrived. I am safe. You have no need to worry. I will do what I have come to do and before you know it, I will be home.”
Product Details
- Publisher: Scribner (March 4, 2025)
- Length: 224 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668030677
Raves and Reviews
A New York Times Book Review Top 10 Historical Fiction Book of 2024
A Vogue, Washington Post, NPR, Kirkus, and Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year
Winner of the 2024 Bookmark Festival Book of Year
Shortlisted for the 2024 Books Are My Bag Award, the Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown Award, and the Saltire Society Literary Award
Longlisted for Blackwell’s Book of the Year
“A jewel of a new novel…It’s hard to overstate how deftly and viscerally Davies’s prose conveys this world. We see and hear and smell it, shiver with it ...I dare not give away more of this splendidly imagined story, while longing to quote from it at greater length...I found myself rereading the novel’s last pages with wonder, wanting to revisit (and reconsider) just how they unfold.”
—The Washington Post
“Daring and necessary...the storytelling is sophisticated and playful...Clear contemplates fictional resuscitations, opening itself, and its readers, to the ghosts of lost ideas.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“A love letter to the scorching power of language, a power that Davies has long understood. She writes with amazing economy: in a few words she can summon worlds…Davies is a writer of immense talent and deep humanity, capable of balancing devastating audacity with equally devastating restraint.”
—The Guardian
“[A] gripping novel from Welsh novelist Carys Davies, Clear...feels a bit like a thriller set against a history lesson rendered fantastically vivid...raising questions of belonging, ownership, and how we forge the bonds between people and place that are really durable.”
—Vogue
“In sparse but often gorgeous prose, Clear chronicles the surprising bond that develops between these two men, first through Ivar’s tender ministrations to the injured stranger...Davies manages to pack a great deal of power into her compact tale.”
—The Wall Street Journal
"The most tender, beautiful story about the connection between two people and what they must overcome to find each other – in every sense of the word."
—NPR
“There is great pleasure to be found of Davies’s clear and calm prose, her wry asides and deep love of language, and in the book’s quiet optimism. It is a slim, masterfully carved gem of a story that you won’t easily forget: slip it into your pocket.”
—Evening Standard
“Davies’ characteristically nimble evocation of place is in evidence throughout…Amid the barbarity of mass evictions, with all their modern resonances, Davies ultimately offers us a story that is hopeful and humane.”
—Irish Times
“A lucid and stylish prose writer, Davies is excellent at revealing characters through the language they use and through the gestures and tonal shifts that betray their weaknesses, their prejudices and hollow sentiments...what Clear asks of us in its final pages is a leap of faith more usual in fables and fairy tales—there is also something gratifying in the suggestion, however unlikely, that love, even love of the most improbable kind, can still blossom in a world run by men like Lowrie and Strachan.”
—Times Literary Supplement
“Another epic in miniature. Davies manages to pack in more drama and nuance into 160 pages than other authors manage in novels twice that length.”
—The Spectator
“Her own language is a marvel of eloquent restraint.”
—The Observer
“Wonderfully atmospheric writing.”
—Sunday Times
“Painterly...Her grasp of historical mood rarely falters, and each scene is set with minimal description, leaving space for the reader’s imagination ...Clear is a memorable and beautifully told tale.”
—Scottish Herald
“[Davies] writes epics in miniature…a tender, humane book.”
—Times (London)
“This is a gem of a novel that shines with tenderness and courage, and shimmers with the love of a long-lost language...Davies deftly spins out the tension of the situation while delicately describing the developing comradeship between the two men. Sublime.”
—Daily Mail
“Historical fact can often lack tangible emotion, but here Davies fills in great swathes of it with the most minimalist of brush-strokes. What she has produced is an atmospheric marvel, because as spare and pared-down as Clear is, it overflows with all the fundamentals of humanity: life, love, connection, empathy. Her characters are so vividly alive, so full of feeling that you can almost hear their hearts pounding.”
—i Newspaper
“Clear keeps the reader on tenterhooks; the ending is both unexpected and satisfying...[Davies has a] rare sense of openness, balance and compassion and a finely-tuned ear. Her books powerfully evoke a sense of place.”
—Country and Town House
“The magic is in Davies’s handling of her material. She packs a huge amount in…and never says more than is needed...To deliver an epic story in miniature like this–in fewer than 150 pages–is an exceptional achievement.”
—The Critic
“A gem of a novel…a perfectly pitched tale of human connection set at the intersection of two of Scotland’s greatest historic social upheavals...Davies neatly reveals the dilemmas facing each of her protagonists in prose that’s lucid and faultlessly paced...Clear is something to savour.”
—New Zealand Herald
“[A] great, sturdy piece of writing, from a writer who deserves a lot more attention, who has been steadily creating terrific novels and short stories for years, and Clear is as good a place as any to hop on board.”
—Bookmunch
"With her characteristically buoyant prose and brisk sense of plotting, Davies crafts a humane tale about individuals struggling to maintain dignity beneath competing systems of disenfranchisement...A deft and graceful yarn about language, love, and rebellion against the inhumane forces of history."
—Kirkus (starred review)
"The sheer beauty of Clear—with its perfect sentences, its austere tenderness, and its quiet sense of disquiet—feels timeless ... A poignant, profound depiction of both solitude and connection. Carys Davies has written a masterful, discreetly sublime book."
—Hernan Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Trust and In the Distance
“This intriguing and inventive story escorts the reader to an unexpectedly joyous ending that hints at our contemporary interest in new ideas of what a family might be. The writing style is one of clarity and reserved sensibility punctuated with an end-game needle jab. Not to be missed.”
—Annie Proulx, author of Barkskins
“Clear is a compact, taut and brilliant novel with an ingenious premise: one man is sent to evict another from his land, but suddenly requires the second man’s aid. Everything gets more complicated from there. The book is about belonging, a dying language, secrets, and a pistol in a box. I loved every page.”
—Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See and Cloud Cuckoo Land
"Clear is a love letter to a vanished way of life, to a landscape, and to human relationships. Captivating, tender, and satisfying, this is a novel to be savoured."
—Claire Fuller, author of Bitter Orange and The Memory of Animals
"A wonderfully humane and moving depiction of loneliness and the connections forged between strangers that transcend all barriers, even language."
—Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures
"With Clear, Carys Davies has again done brilliantly what she does best - saying most by saying least. She has the rare gift of eloquent brevity — Clear is astute, moving, unexpected."
—Penelope Lively, author of The Family Garden and Life in the Garden
“An exquisite, hopeful masterpiece ... my favorite book of 2024 and probably many more years to come.”
—Rachel Joyce, author of Miss Benson's Beetle and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Selected Praise for Carys Davies
“This short, stunning novel taps into the mythos of the American frontier while offering a vivid tale of devotion and loss.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“Davies’s writing is so lovely throughout, her vision so interesting.” —The New York Times
“Luminous… Davies is a writer to watch--and to savor.” —O, The Oprah Magazine
“A lithe yet lyrical meditation on obsession, violence, and the yoke of family...Davies is an audaciously talented writer.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Enthralling… [a] jewel of a novel.” —The Observer
“One of the most haunting and beautifully crafted novels I have read in a long time… This is a gently seductive book, one that entrances right to its cleverly conceived end.” —The Sunday Times
“Davies' lapidary prose is a marvel – she creates worlds in a few deft pen strokes.” —The Times
“Brilliantly crafted...Having subtly prepared the ground, Davies finally springs the jaws of her plot, revealing, heartbreakingly...what kind of story this really is.” —The Daily Mail
“Beautifully crafted.” —The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice
“Lightly yet deftly crafted, hovering in tone somewhere between comedy, tragedy, and fable...Davies subtly synthesizes complex issues into a low-key yet compelling web of affecting destinies.” —Kirkus (starred review)
“I loved this… It’s pretty much perfect.” —Claire Fuller
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- Book Cover Image (jpg): Clear Trade Paperback 9781668030677
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