Alastair MacLeod is considered a master of the short story. Island collects all 14 of his stories into one volume. Most of them are set on Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, where he was raised. Almost all of the stories are concerned with the lives of the working-class, often Gaelic-speaking descendants of Scots who immigrated to Canada during the 18th century clearances.
The stories are arranged by date from 1968 to 1999. Many of the early ones are about young men dreaming of or actually leaving the island. Later, they become more about older men who stayed.
The difficult and sometimes bleak lives of the islanders were interesting to read about. Since childhood memories would have been set in the 1940s, and some of the stories are about fathers or grandfathers, the life is often fairly primitive.
All of stories are well written and hold the attention, but I found several deeply touching. In “In the Fall,” a man’s wife makes arrangements to sell an old horse behind her husband’s back. The horse had been her husband’s faithful companion and co-worker but is no longer able to work. Of course, he’s being sold to the knackers.
In “The Road to Rankin’s Point,” a young man’s family gathers to try to convince his 90-some grandmother to move from her isolated farmhouse to assisted living. He himself has found out he only has a few months to live.
In “Winter Dog,” a man looks back to when he was a boy, to a dog who saved his life. And another one about a man and his dog, “As Birds Bring Forth the Sun.” And one about the results of a brief love affair, “Island.”
MacLeod only wrote one novel, which I’ll be looking for.
What? Me Read? 
Sounds good, and I like the Scottish connection, of course. On the whole I prefer novels to shorts, so I’ll wait to see what you think of his novel before deciding whether to add him…
I think these are very good, and I don’t generally read short stories. You might have to wait a while, because I have so many other books in front of me.
I love Alistair MacLeoad’s stories. And I love his son’s stories, too. (Alexander MacLeod) His son’s stories are more contemporary.
His novel is very bleak but beautifully told and won several awards, including the International Dublin Literary Award in 2001.
I will have to look for his novel and his son’s work, too! Thanks for the tip-off!
I have read more short stories over the last couple of years than I ever used to!
Thank you for sharing this review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.
Thanks for posting!