Photo by Kenny Lam / VisitScotland The Lewis Chessmen in Lews Castle Museum
Peter May. His Lewis Trilogy proved so popular with visitors that Outer Hebrides Tourism created a literary map and trail to the places featured in the books, The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man and The Chessmen. A companion photobook, Peter May Hebrides, also includes such highlights as the beehive dwellings at Morsgail, the Bridge to Nowhere and the Iolaire Memorial. “The Outer Hebrides provide a unique setting for my crime novels, which help them stand out against the competition,” said Peter. “The islands have struck a chord with readers around the world, and I am in receipt of daily contact from readers – many of whom have been moved to visit them for themselves – imploring me always to return to the Hebrides for my next book.” “I always try to find a story element which is unique to the location that I am using, so that it would be impossible to set that tale
p111
Photo by Kenny Lam / VisitScotland A working loom for making Harris Tweed
elsewhere. The Outer Hebrides have provided me with several uniquely island elements for my stories – the guga hunt on the Isle of Lewis; the ‘homers’ (orphan children from mainland Scotland) sent to live with island families; the sinking of the Iolaire bringing islanders home at the end of the First World War; The Highland Clearances; and, of course, Harris Tweed for I’ll Keep You Safe.” I’ll Keep You Safe is out now
and follows the story of Niamh Macfarlane, co-owner of Ranish Tweed: a Hebridean company that weaves its own special variety of Harris cloth, which has become a sought-after brand in the world of high fashion. When Niamh learns of her husband’s affair with a Russian designer and then witnesses the pair killed by a car bomb in Paris, her life is left in ruins and she returns to the Isle of Lewis.