Growing up on a farm in Orkney, a remote island off the Northern coast of Scotland, Amy Lipcoat dreams of living in London and being at the center of everything that is new, happening and fashionable.
After university she lives that life, until her addiction to alcohol and party drugs becomes so serious that it destroys a serious relationship, causes her to lose numerous jobs and, most worryingly, damages her health to the point that it causes her to have seizures. Fortunately Amy comes to the realisation that she has to get clean if she wises to survive and after a successful course of addiction treatment she returns home to the family farm.
Filling her days with farm work Amy begins to explore her island and her inquisitive mind finds much wonder there. Following a summer job monitoring an endangered species of bird she moves to the even smaller and more remote island of Papay to concentrate on her writing and pursue her new interests.
The Outrun was a wonderful book!
Amy Lipcoat writes with great beauty about her homeland and the wonders of nature to be found there: wildlife, flora, the wild weather and sea conditions, the skies and astronomy as well as the folklore and language of the isles. She observes the old ways of life along with the changes happening as the isles become somewhat less isolated due to modern technology and the Internet.
The Outrun is a moving and frankly told tale of a woman who returns to her roots, older and wiser. I found it to be less a story of substance abuse and more of a love letter to the Northern Scottish Isles. I simply loved everything about this book and it sparked my interest for a part of the world I had hardly even considered before. This book brought me great joy and taught me about many things. I can't wait to read more by Amy and wish her well and continued sobriety.
Highly recommended.
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