Donald S Murray
Writer and poet Donald S Murray is an Honorary Fellow of the Association for Scottish Literature who has won the Society of Authors’ Paul Torday Memorial Prize (2012, for As the Women Lay Dreaming,) and the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award (2021), among many awards for his historical fiction, creative non-fiction and poems. His critically acclaimed books bring to life the culture and nature of the Scottish islands, and he appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland and as a live performer.
The Call of the Cormorant
From the author of the prize-winning As the Women Lay Dreaming comes a remarkable ‘unreliable biography’ of Karl Kjerúlf Einarsson: an artist and an adventurer, a charlatan and a swindler, forever in search of Atlantis.
As a child in the windswept, fog-bound Faroe Islands in the late nineteenth century, Karl Einarsson believes he is special, destined for a life of art and adventure. As soon as he can, he sets out for Copenhagen and beyond, styling himself as the Count of St. Kilda. He’s an observer and citizen of nowhere, a serial swindler of aristocrats and Nazis, fishermen and fops.
But when his adventures find him in 1930s Berlin, he is forced for the first time to reckon with something much bigger than himself. As the Nazis rise to power around him, his wilful ignorance becomes unwitting complicity, even betrayal.
Based on a true story, this is a fantastical tale of island life, of those who leave and those who stay behind, and the many dangers of delusions and false identities.
REVIEWS OF The Call of the Cormorant
“From the first line I know I’m in the hands of a bard and consummate storyteller. The writing is lyrical and hugely descriptive … The history is rich and fascinating.” Historical Novels Review
“An intriguing and engaging novel based on the life of a real man … I would recommend [it] to anyone wanting something memorably different to read.” Undiscovered Scotland
“A wonderful tale looking at belonging and identity... in the strong storytelling tradition of both Northern Scotland and the Nordic countries, and [Murray] is a master of it.” Alistair Braidwood, Scots Whay Hae / CamGlen Radio
“One of the most interesting and enjoyable [authors] writing in Scotland today … A fine story, rich in irony, a story of folly and a fool who nevertheless invites one’s sympathy …[Murray’s] most ambitious novel to date.” – Allan Massie, Scotsman
“A beautifully written novel, the prose sweeps off the page like the seabirds of the Faroes.” Inverness Press & Journal, Book of the Week
