The Hills Is Lonely

Rating:
Summary: the hills is lonely
Review: A beautifuly soft and funny book, Ms Beckworth captures the soul of the Shetland Isles. A retired School teacher retires to a remote isle and re-discovers the Human nature. You need to have a love of nature to truly appriciate her view of the world. In this rush, rush world we have evolved to, her story allows us to slow the pace for a while and enjoy the simpler pleasures of life. Try the other 2 books, The Load Halo and The Sea for Breakfast. This is a book you would want when the day is cold and wet. Short but full of characters.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Head for the Hills
Review: A former English schoolteacher takes up residence in a remote, backwater community in the Hebrides. It was funny in many parts, (I especially enjoyed her first fishing experience), but as the story progressed, she never really revealed any charm in the inhabitants of the neighborhood. I kept expecting a gradual understanding and respect for these people, but it never came. She rarely described anything laudable about the inhabitants, although she found plenty to poke fun at: dishonesty, drunkenness, obstinacy, ingnorance, slovenliness, insincerity, unhealthy diet, loose morals, lack of sanitation and personal hygiene, etc. I fail to see why she stayed. Guess the rent was cheap.

Rating:
Summary: The Hills is Lonely - The Ultimate Comfort Read
Review: I found a battered copy of this book in a second hand shop about 15 years ago, and still have it, as I won't even lend it out, I love it so much!

Ms Beckwith, a middle-aged spinster in the mid to late 1950's who lives in England, is ordered by her doctor to go somewhere in the countryside to rest and recuperate after an illness (we're never told what), so she puts an ad in a magazine and awaits replies. She is almost decided on going to a farm in Devon, when she receives a very bizarre and absolutely hilarious letter from a woman on the island of Bruach (apparently really the isle of Eigg) in the Hebrides, NOT the Shetlands, offering her accommodation. She is so amused by this letter that she chooses to go and stay there. Rather than a restful recuperation, she has to endure a stomach-churning ferry crossing in a storm, then she has to scale a six foot wall on her arrival on the island and things just get funnier from there! This is a wonderfully funny and gentle book, with an assortment of endearing and hilarious charaters, it's a real comfort read to snuggle up on the sofa with. Ms Beckwith does show the people in an amusing light, but this is done only with the greatest affection, and no malice whatever could be intended. The book is all the funnier when you know that all the incidents really happened and all the characters are real people. I would heartily recommend this book and the following FIVE books in the series:- Lightly Poached - The Sea for Breakfast - The Loud Halo - A Rope in Case - and Bruach Blend.

These really are lovely books, and I can't for the life of me understand why they haven't been turned into a film or at the very least a TV series, as they would be perfect Sunday evening family viewing.

Rating:
Summary: The Hills is Lonely - The Ultimate Comfort Read
Review: I found a battered copy of this book in a second hand shop about 15 years ago, and still have it, as I won't even lend it out, I love it so much!

Ms Beckwith, a middle-aged spinster in the mid to late 1950's who lives in England, is ordered by her doctor to go somewhere in the countryside to rest and recuperate after an illness (we're never told what), so she puts an ad in a magazine and awaits replies. She is almost decided on going to a farm in Devon, when she receives a very bizarre and absolutely hilarious letter from a woman on the island of Bruach (apparently really the isle of Eigg) in the Hebrides, NOT the Shetlands, offering her accommodation. She is so amused by this letter that she chooses to go and stay there. Rather than a restful recuperation, she has to endure a stomach-churning ferry crossing in a storm, then she has to scale a six foot wall on her arrival on the island and things just get funnier from there! This is a wonderfully funny and gentle book, with an assortment of endearing and hilarious charaters, it's a real comfort read to snuggle up on the sofa with. Ms Beckwith does show the people in an amusing light, but this is done only with the greatest affection, and no malice whatever could be intended. The book is all the funnier when you know that all the incidents really happened and all the characters are real people. I would heartily recommend this book and the following FIVE books in the series:- Lightly Poached - The Sea for Breakfast - The Loud Halo - A Rope in Case - and Bruach Blend.

These really are lovely books, and I can't for the life of me understand why they haven't been turned into a film or at the very least a TV series, as they would be perfect Sunday evening family viewing.

Rating:
Summary: Funny and sweet.
Review: I keep my battered copy in the suitcase I keep packed for the emergency hospital trips that come up every so often with my elderly parents. It's a lovely story, well-written. Ms Beckwith obviously feels great affection for the characters, even as she relates their quirks.

Rating:
Summary: Funny and sweet.
Review: Time travel into an austere island of the Hebrides of the early 1960s - an entirely different place in time than my recall of the 60s! Remote and harsh, truly a difficult existence, but mingled with fun and high spirits. Ms. Beckwith takes just the right tone - no condescension, but rather an unvarnished yet sympathetic portrayal. Seeking a refreshing convalescence, she is intrigued by a response to an advertisement from an isolated croft in the Hebrides: "Surely it's that quiet even the sheeps themselves on the hills is lonely and as to the sea it's that near as I use it myself every day for the refusals." The reader never particularly gets to know the author, but instead quietly lives the village life of this remote island. Alternatively lovable and bizarre, the locals are sketched with much affection and the language is plainly inspired. The landscape is very much a part of this armchair travel guide to a very uncommon world view. I am off to find Ms. Beckwith's other books, reading this story was like finding riches.

Rating:
Summary: Timeless and Enchanting
Review: Time travel into an austere island of the Hebrides of the early 1960s - an entirely different place in time than my recall of the 60s! Remote and harsh, truly a difficult existence, but mingled with fun and high spirits. Ms. Beckwith takes just the right tone - no condescension, but rather an unvarnished yet sympathetic portrayal. Seeking a refreshing convalescence, she is intrigued by a response to an advertisement from an isolated croft in the Hebrides: "Surely it's that quiet even the sheeps themselves on the hills is lonely and as to the sea it's that near as I use it myself every day for the refusals." The reader never particularly gets to know the author, but instead quietly lives the village life of this remote island. Alternatively lovable and bizarre, the locals are sketched with much affection and the language is plainly inspired. The landscape is very much a part of this armchair travel guide to a very uncommon world view. I am off to find Ms. Beckwith's other books, reading this story was like finding riches.