For Faughie's Sake by Laura Marney

Glaswegian Trixie returns in this brilliant sequel to No Wonder I Take A Drink, sick of the mud, midges and cliques of Highland village Inverfaughie. In an effort to secure a license for her B&B – her financial ticket back to Glasgow – she joins the local council, becoming unwillingly embroiled in village politics. What begins with petty backbiting over village hall bookings suddenly becomes imbued with much deeper significance when an ancient document is uncovered, which offers a radical new vision for Faughie’s future.   

Laura Marney’s fifth novel is hilarious. In Trixie she has created an authentic, likeable heroine whose wry perspective will resonate with anyone familiar with rural life’s joys and frustrations. Marney draws genuine, awkward relationships between the Inverfaughie citizens; from the curses and kindnesses of the bearded stuntmen staying in Trixie’s B&B, to the teenage son who joins the local commune, to the painful love affairs which remain long secret for fear of incurring village disapproval.

As huge political issues play out in this isolated village, the reader, like Trixie herself, is drawn inexorably to care about the characters and Faughie’s future. Blunt, honest and perceptive, For Faughie’s Sake brings much needed warmth and humour to the independence debate. [Ceris Aston]