#corrag

“So I say this. Speak of them. Speak of those that died. Speak of all those who ever died--in all the world's history, in its wars, and long-lost days. Speak of those who met their deaths in Glencoe, in snow--not of their deaths, but of their lives before them. Not of how they died, but of how they bent to pat a dog's head, or what ballads they could sing, or what their skin was like by their eyes when they smiled, or which weather was their weather--for it keeps them living. It stops them being dead.

To do this--to speak or write of them--puts breath back in their mouths. It lifts them up from their earthy beds... brings them forth, and they stand by the side of the one who speaks of them; they walk out of the pages of those who write them down. From the realm, they smile upon us. All the dead people--only, they are not dead.” ― Susan Fletcher, Corrag

Corrag

Boireannta IPA: Laːv

"Who will you burn? Hag. Witch. It has always tried to kill me - this word, this life of mine."

Corrag is the story of a witch about to be burned in 17th century Scotland; she herself tells her story to a man named Charles Leslie, who interviews her in her cell to see whether she knows anything noteworthy about the recent massacre of an entire clan, the MacDonalds. Charles, a Jacobite, suspects it was the work of the Orange king. Though the inner life of Corrag is created, the massacre at Glencoe, and Corrag herself as well as Charles Leslie, were real. This book was not quite what I expected. It intertwines Corrag's story--written as if she is speaking, with no quotation marks, no inner thoughts but those she voices--with Charles' letters home to his wife. Corrag's voice is difficult to get used to; it is as wild and dreamy as she is. At first, I wasn't sure I could get past it, but the poetry of it really entranced me. Additionally, the story of a witch burning carries certain expectations--that Corrag is something. Charles Leslie's being a religious man carries certain expectations. But those are subverted, and this story turned out to be much gentler and much more emotional than I thought it would be.