The Shadow of the Sycamores traces the fortunes of the Rae family, from Henry Rae's birth in 1871, when his drunken father, a blacksmith, forgets the name chosen for him, to his old age in the 1940s. We follow Henry's story as he leaves home at 13 to work as orra loon at a farm and eventually meets his beloved future wife, Fay, when he finds a new job at The Sycamores, a nursing home for the mentally disordered and the elderly. Events take a dramatic turn when their son, Jerry, under-gardener at The Sycamores, falls in love with a 16-year-old inmate. When they marry, another inmate a much older man becomes insanely jealous and the scene is set for tragedy, with three mysterious deaths. Jerry enlists in 1917 and is killed in action. Years later, the family find unfamiliar marriage and birth certificates amongst his personal effects and start to unravel the mystery surrounding his second wife and child. This leads to a shocking discovery and there are many twists and turns before the final resolution. This epic tale, from one of north-east Scotland's most renowned novelists, is romantic and heartrendingly tragic.
A meditation on the trauma and possibility of searching for connection in a world that enforces bland norms of gender, sexual, and social conformity. When you turn the music off, and suddenly you feel an unbearable sadness, that means turn the music back on, right? When you still feel the sadness, even with the music, that means there's something wrong with this music. Sometimes I feel like sex without context isn't sex at all. And sometimes I feel like sex without context is what sex should always be.--The Freezer Door The Freezer Door records the ebb and flow of desire in daily life. Crossing through loneliness in search of communal pleasure in Seattle, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore exposes the failure and persistence of queer dreams, the hypocritical allure of gay male sexual culture, and the stranglehold of the suburban imagination over city life. Ferocious and tender, The Freezer Door offers a complex meditation on the trauma and possibility of searching for connection in a world that relentlessly enforces bland norms of gender, sexual, and social conformity while claiming to celebrate diversity.
A brilliant new talent delivers a sweeping thriller that turns the entire history of America upside down. Colonial historian Benjamin Wainwright is summoned to a secretive think tank in western Massachusetts by an old school friend who researches war-game theory. Upon his arrival, Wainwright discovers that his friend is dead and suspected of having leaked information. When the security analyst hired to investigate the case is targeted for assassination, Benjamin wonders: Was his friend's death an accident—or murder? A series of codes, forged documents, and secret family histories all point to the existence of a centuries-old conspiracy. Benjamin teams up with a beautiful Russian cultural attaché named Natalya Orlova, whose own family has a dark history with the KGB, to unravel the truth. The two set off on a dangerous mission that stretches from Washington, DC, to the French Riviera, to deep within the Siberian wilderness. Together, they discover the sinister forces that have pulled the strings of power in America—perhaps all the way back to its very founding. What our characters learn will make us question everything we thought we knew about American history, from the Revolution to the Cold War, and what lies in store for the fate of the nation. With a gripping pace and enigmatic plot that drives the reader from one page to the next, The Shadow War is a highly intelligent thriller that asks: Who really runs the country, who controls our enemies, and to what lengths will they go to conceal their hidden agendas?
The End of San Francisco breaks apart the conventions of memoir to reveal the passions and perils of a life that refuses to conform to the rules of straight or gay normalcy. A budding queer activist escapes to San Francisco, in search of a world more politically charged, sexually saturated, and ethically consistent—this is the person who evolves into Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, infamous radical queer troublemaker, organizer and agitator, community builder and anti-assimilationist commentator. Here is the tender, provocative and exuberant story of the formation of one of the contemporary queer movement's most savvy and outrageous writers and spokespersons. Using an unrestrained associative style to move kaleidoscopically between past, present and future, Sycamore conjures the untidy push and pull of memory, exposing the tensions between idealism and critical engagement, trauma and self-actualization, inspiration and loss. Part memoir, part social history and part elegy, The End of San Francisco explores and explodes the dream of a radical queer community and the mythical city that was supposed to nurture it. "Mattilda is a dazzling writer of uncommon truths, a challenging writer who refuses to conform to conventionality. Her agitation is an inspiration."—Justin Torres, author of We the Animals “Author Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore is the artistic love child of John Genet and David Wojnarowicz, deconstructing language swathed in unbridled sensuality, while flinging readers into a disrupted, chaotic life of queer anarchy.”—Gay and Lesbian Review "Bring on The End of San Francisco! And Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, whose new book has reinvented memoir without the predictable gloss of passive resolution. This book is undeniably brave and new, and the internal energy churning at its core is like nothing you've seen, heard or read before. I swear."—T. Cooper, author of Real Man Adventures "We hear so much about coming-of-age narratives that we seldom think about going-of-age—the shutting down and closure, the making sense of where we've been. Written with grace, reserve and the honest tremblings that come when things matter, Mattilda shows us that The End of San Francisco is really the beginning of joy."—Daphne Gottlieb, author of 15 Ways to Stay Alive "It would be easy to describe The End of San Francisco as a Joycean 'Portrait of the Artist as a Young Queer' (although the book's intense stream of consciousness is reminiscent of the later, more experimental, Joyce) . . . but this is misleading. This journey of a life that begins in the professional upper-middle class (both parents are therapists) and the Ivy League and moves to hustling, drugs, activism—Sycamore was active in ACT UP and Queer Nation—and queer bohemian grunge, is profoundly American. At heart, Sycamore is writing about the need to escape control through flight or obliteration."—Michael Bronski, San Francisco Chronicle
With his unique blend of intuition, quiet wisdom and a small drop of cunning, Irish matchmaker Willie Daly reveals the secret to finding true love, and shares the story of a life spent bringing people together in love and marriage. The path to love can be heart-warming, hilarious, sometimes hair-raising—and Willie is the perfect guide. For those still looking for romance, he also has some hard-earned, practical advice. Rich with characters, humor, drama and—of course—Guinness, Willie Daly regales us with some of his funniest and most touching matchmaking stories.
Two young men from a remote Scottish village decide to make their fortunes in London, but can't escape their close ties to home or the girl they leave behind... Alistair Ritchie and Dougal Finnie have grown up in one of the most scenic villages in Scotland, but as they now have a desire to see the world, there is nothing to keep them there - not even Lexie Fraser, who's been chasing Ally since they were fourteen. Lexie has troubles of her own: a sick mother and a missing father, his disappearance a complete mystery. She'd like nothing better than to cling to Ally, which just makes him more determined to break free. But the lads aren't destined to stay away forever. Marriage and babies follow - and so does war. London is no place for young wives and children, and where could be safer than the north of Scotland, the Back of Beyond? But what will their city-raised families make of it - and the folks they left behind?
A tender, uplifting family story set in Aberdeenshire, sweeping from the early years of this century to the present day. Mysie Lonie was only sixteen when her drunken father sold her for thirty pounds as wife to ugly, middle aged Jeems Duncan. Taken to live on his croft, Rowanbrae, she tried hard to make the best of her lot and, in time, bore Jeems two sons - Jamie, the light of her life, and unhappy, difficult Sandy. In 1913, as the storm clouds of war gather, love comes with unexpected force and brightness into Mysie's life. But the conflict of loyalties it brings sets off a chain of terrible events that eventually leaves her bereaved, homeless and marked by a secret she can never betray. Nearly destitute, Mysie is forced out into the world to scrape a living for herself and Sandy. Her path will bring her further trials - also many joys - but finally she is given the chance to leave her tragic past behind and enjoy true happiness ...
