Some behind-the-scene details about the location revealed by the author:
THE ISLAND OF LEWIS, OUTER HEBRIDES
Lewis itself plays a major part in the story with its ancient history and current mostly devout Presbyterian culture, like the landscape a complex mix of harsh and gentle.
Maureen Jennings briefly reveals the story behind the location for her new series.
I wanted to take a break from my historical series but didn’t have a story. One day, my husband suggested we start making plans to go to California to publicize my latest Murdoch book. I said, emphatically, that I didn’t want to go to California, I wanted to go to Scotland. And that’s how it started. Initially I was interested in following in the footsteps of Johnson and Boswell, but some research made it clear that they had truly travelled a long way, too spread out really. Slowly the area narrowed to the Hebrides and to the northern island of Lewis. My story came in over the left shoulder, (they always come from that direction, don’t ask me why) I started plotting and everything fell into place. I did as much research about the island and the culture as I possibly could, even took two sessions of Gaelic lessons. Then we arranged to go to Lewis. I had pinpointed exactly what I needed to know when I was actually on site. We had a wonderful time and fell in love with the island and the people.
It seemed inevitable that Christine Morris, my protagonist, should return to the island for the next book in the series, and so she will.
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