The Brilliant & Forever by Kevin MacNeil

Everyone on this Scottish island is an aspiring writer, even a talking alpaca called Archie. He wears a Stetson, and gave his best friend, our narrator, a jumper made from his own wool once. It’s these endearing details that bring the world of this book to life: mostly recognisable, with a few major quirks. Perhaps this is just what island life looks like to a mainlander. In any case, there’s a literary festival on: the Brilliant and Forever, and Macy, Archie and our narrator each have a spot on the line-up. And unlike most literary festivals, this one will be life-changing. 

Full of wry detail and satirical flourish, The Brilliant & Forever is a demonstration of virtuoso storytelling. There are 13 short stories in the book, each one startlingly different in pace and voice and tone. The structure alone is testament to MacNeil’s skill as a writer. Only clever plotting and a keen sense of timing keeps the momentum of the narrative on track. 

But it’s the frame narrative and its treatment of friendship, empathy and alpacas that are really touching. MacNeil atomises the process of othering by which communities define themselves – here are the alpacas, standing in for any number of minorities in the long shadow of Brexit and Trump. All of that makes it sound overly serious, which it isn’t: MacNeil’s prose style keeps things light, lyrical, and funny.