Eric Linklater: The Merry Muse

I read a lot while I was on holiday - and didn't write much. I posted here, and I sent a few postcards, but I didn't touch the books diary. So The Merry Muse isn't holiday reading, despite the Orcadian connection. And I don't remember where I acquired this copy, though it may possibly have been in the secondhand bookshop in Kirkwall.

Eric Linklater's The Wind on the Moon was one of the books of my childhood, one of those I could always re-read, and was always delighted to discover someone else shared. This Bookslut review won't tell you why, and I have no idea whether I would now share its reservations. Not necessarily: "an author [more] in love with the sound of his voice" wouldn't necessarily put me off. But I must, certainly, have regarded The Wind on the Moon as a one-off, because I didn't (until now) make the transition to Linklater's adult novels. There was a time when every other charity shop had a copy of Juan in America, but I never bought one, and haven't seen it in years. I don't know why I weakened and bought The Merry Muse: for the cover, perhaps, which I like very much.

( And in fact I ended up liking the book, too. )