Consider the Lilies

A superb, 50th anniversary edition of a true modern classic. When she rose in the morning the house at first seemed to be the same. The sun shone through the curtains of her window. On the floor it turned to minute particles like water dancing. Nevertheless, she felt uneasy... What had the girl said? Something about the 'burning of houses'. They just couldn't put people out of their houses, and then burn the houses down. No one had ever heard of that before. Not in the country... In this modern classic, from one of Scotland's greatest writers, Consider the Lilies captures the thoughts and memories of an old woman who has lived all her life within the narrow confines of her community during one of the cruellest episodes of Scottish history - the Highland Clearances. Long considered a seminal work of Scottish literature, Iain Crichton-Smith's novel filters a community's history through the lens of individual experience. Both a forthright challenge to religious hypocrisy and a heartfelt portrait of survival and endurance, Consider the Lilies is a staggeringly accomplished work of fiction. In bringing alive a too-often ignored moment in history it emphasises a universal message about the need for compassion and understanding.