Splendid bash on Wednesday night at the Aqualibrium in Campbeltown. Lisa Tuttle is a science fiction/fantasy writer from Texas, who has lived near Tarbert since 1990. Wednesday’s event marked the belated UK release of her novel, The Silver Bough, which has been available in an American edition since 2006. Nice timing, since it occurred on Independence Day. Colin Murray, Lisa’s husband, was also there. He writes 1950s crime fiction.
The Silver Bough is set in a fictional version of Campbeltown, called Appleton, in which the creatures of folklore and myth are stirring – anything can happen! Lisa changed the traditional product of the Wee Toon from whisky to apples. The publisher’s website says:
Appleton is a small town nestled on the coast of Scotland. Though it was once famous for the apples it produced, these days it’s a shadow of its former self. But in a hidden orchard a golden apple dangles from a silver bough, an apple believed lost for ever. The apple is part of a legend, promising either eternal happiness to the young couple who eat from it secure in their love – or a curse, for those who take its gift for granted.
I haven’t read the book yet, since it only appeared in the The Old Bookshelf on Thursday morning. I had imagined a one-to-one geographical superimposition of the fictional town onto the real one, like Tilling and Rye in the Mapp and Lucia novels, but that’s unlikely to be the case. There is apparently one existing building in Campbeltown that features significantly in The Silver Bough, the Burnett Building, which used to be the town library. Lisa is an occasional librarian and worked there before the Aquilibrium was built.
It was a lovely evening, with Lisa talking about the book, a lively question and answer session, and wine and munchies afterwards. I look forward to reading and reviewing The Silver Bough.
Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay 