WINNER OF THE WALES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 WINNER OF THE ONDAATJE PRIZE 2025 LONGLISTED FOR THE
2024 HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE 'Tender riveting and inventive is Clear the newest offering and
masterpiece from the brilliant Carys Davies. It will take your breath away' Sarah Jessica
Parker 'An exquisite hopeful masterpiece' Rachel Joyce 'A poignant profound depiction of
both solitude and connection. Carys Davies has written a masterful discreetly sublime book'
Hernan Diaz 1843. On a remote Scottish island Ivar the sole occupant leads a life of quiet
isolation until the day he finds a man unconscious on the beach below the cliffs. The newcomer
is John Ferguson an impoverished church minister sent to evict Ivar and turn the island into
grazing land for sheep. Unaware of the stranger's intentions Ivar takes him into his home and
in spite of the two men having no common language a fragile bond begins to form between them.
Meanwhile on the mainland John's wife Mary anxiously awaits news of his mission. Against
the rugged backdrop of this faraway spot beyond Shetland Carys Davies's intimate drama unfolds
with tension and tenderness: a touching and crystalline study of ordinary people buffeted by
history and a powerful exploration of the distances and connections between us. Perfectly
structured and surprising at every turn Clear is a marvel of storytelling an exquisite short
novel by a master of the form.
