British author Carys Davies’ third novel Clear is slim but packed with language and an unwinding plot that starts slowly but then rockets to an unexpected climax. In the mid 1800s, a Scottish minister, strapped for cash, travels to a remote island to expel its sole inhabitant, a silent, gentle, hulk of a man. When the minister falls and is cared for by the primitive tenant with his strange language, a bond develops between the two, even as the minister’s wife embarks on a fraught journey to rescue him. The author is a stylist of rare beauty, able to conjure up the harsh, storm-lashed rock on which the action takes place. The moral dimensions of this seemingly simple but complex tale are clear but the human reactions of the characters are rich in suspense and weighted with ethical import. Not much longer than a novella, Clear is an easily read jewel that raises as many fundamental questions as it attempts answers.
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