First published in 1933, Sun Circle belongs to Neil Gunn's most creative period. We follow Breeta's story of love and awakening which is set in a time of critical upheaval in the very early history of Scotland: Breeta's people are the ancient, newly Christianised Pictish tribes living in remote northern Scotland in the ninth century; they are assailed by robust, pagan Vikings from across the sea. The clash of Christianity and paganism, of old and new, Viking and Pict, is a clash in which the Scottish nation has to be forged.

While an exciting historical novel, Sun Circle is also an expression of Gunn's deepest beliefs and treats the themes which are central to his work. Neil Gunn's writing can explore tremendous choices and conflicts of a very distant time. However, the clash of love and duty, tradition and progress, and nature and civilisation are issues as relevant to modern life as they were to our ancestors. Sun Circle is an enriching and timeless book about our place in the natural world.

The Reviews