Children of the Black House

Author: Ferguson, Calum

Western Isles, Outer Hebrides

Published on 1 July 2019 by Birlinn General (Origin).

Paperback | 320 pages, b/w illustrations, maps
190 x 259 x 22 | 928g

Children of the Black House is a fascinating glimpse into life on the Hebridean island of Lewis from the closing years of the nineteenth century up to the 1950s. Calum Ferguson employs an unusual narrative technique, drawing on his mother Mairead's reminiscences, and presenting her experiences and conversation in the first person.

This is a fascinating account of a culture in transition; it records and preserves for twenty-first-century readers traditions and ways of life which have now gone for ever. Also this remarkable memoir is a treasury of personal recollections, traditional tales, and songs. It is illustrated throughout with photographs of Mairead, her family and friends.