Insider's Choice: New Scottish books to look out for in October

Dawn Kurtagich sets her unsettling thriller, The Wellness Retreat, (Hanover Square Press, 8 October, £10.99), on a remote Scottish island and Nicholas Binge adds science fiction elements to his page-turning suspense, Exhumation (HarperVoyager, 22 October, £16.99).

I enjoyed the creeping sense of unease in Vanessa Santos’s latest novel, In Your Heart a Devil (Dead Ink Books 8 October £16.99). Inspired by Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca and the Aberdeenshire folk tale of Alexander Skene, the 16th century laird and rumoured occultist, the story is narrated by Alexander’s wife, Isobel, as she nears the end of her own life. Looking back, she contemplates her own complicity in her husband’s life and reputation, her own temptations, griefs and sacrifices, all while capturing the beauty, comfort and fear of their country estate and its surrounding landscape.

Moving away from Halloween and towards Christmas, there are a number memoirs to look out for from Scotland’s public figures. In sport, Sir Alex Ferguson is taking another trip down memory lane with Games of My Life (Macmillan, 8 October, £40) in which he chooses 21 career defining games and what they mean to him. Ferguson also provides the foreword for My Rangers: How I Changed Scottish Football Forever (Viking, 15 October £22), Graeme Souness’s memoir on his career with the football club in the 1980s and early 90s.

For readers interested in the current political climate at home and abroad, Humza Yousaf is releasing Under Fire: My Family’s Escape from Gaza and the Cost of Leadership (Bridge Street Press, 1 October, £25), which tells the story of his family’s experiences in Palestine, his battle to get them home to Scotland, and his thoughts on how we tackle societal conflict and division. Away from memoir, vital reading comes from academic and historian Ewan Gibbs and his engaging and insightful An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class (Verso Books, 27 October, £25).

READ MORE: Walking with History by Jimmy Reid review: 'a remarkable life'

Meanwhile, Dunbartonshire-born Talking Heads legend David Byrne has written the uplifting Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up (Canongate, 8 October, £26), a gorgeous exploration of ideas, art, invention and discoveries that were dismissed in their day yet have gone on to have lasting impact. He writes of the reemergence of artists such as Vermeer or Janet Sobel, the reevaluation of literary gems such as The Great Gatsby and Moby Dick, the acceptance of discoveries such as the heliocentric solar system, dark matter or the symbiotic nature of cellular evolution, and much more. And he does it with such open-minded and infectious enthusiasm that it makes reading the book feel like you are taking part in the most wonderful conversation, inspiring genuine hope and possibility.

Finally, two books to consider gifting this Christmas: the gorgeous Folk Tales for Winter Nights edited by Jean Menzies (Macmillan Collector’s Library, 1 October, £10.99), and a brand new — and definitive — poetry collection, Selected Poems 1991 - 2026 from Jackie Kay (Picador, 22 October, £14.99).

Vikki Reilly has worked in Scottish books for over 20 years and now works for Publishing Scotland, the trade and networking body for Scotland’s book publishing sector. She also edits BooksfromScotland.com, a website that promotes the best in Scottish writing, contemporary and classic, and supports Scottish publishers and authors to find new audiences.

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