Allan Massie

Selkirk

Journalist at Freelance

Author and journalist, and all too aware of advancing years, but still smoking.

Articles

Electric Spark by Frances Wilson review: 'illuminating and enjoyable'

1 week ago | scotsman.com | Allan Massie

Almost 50 years ago I wrote a small book about Muriel Spark for a small Edinburgh Press. It was a study of her novels, and she liked, or at least quite liked it, partly because there was almost nothing of a biographical nature - she had a high sense of her right to privacy. Later, we became friendly. I met her when she came to Edinburgh with her friend Penelope Jardine, and she invited me to visit them at their Italian home, an invitation I never took up.
Exit Wounds by Neil Broadfoot review: 'gallops along'

2 weeks ago | scotsman.com | Allan Massie

Exit Wounds begins in Belfast. The Troubles are long over, but the province is still troubled. Connor Fraser, ex-RUC, now living in Scotland, is back there for the funeral of his boyhood friend Danny, a psychologist who had lived for many years in London, but who was killed on a return to Northern Ireland in what seems to have been a car accident.
Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orange by Katie Goh review: 'fascinating'

3 weeks ago | scotsman.com | Allan Massie

The subtitle of this book is “A Personal History of the Orange”. Fair enough. The history of the orange is interesting, as is the history of other foods, but not that interesting. Katie Goh offers a great deal more than that, however, and what this book is really about is the social, economic and political history surrounding what may be the most popular fruit today.
Upland by Ian Crofton review: 'a book to savour'

1 month ago | scotsman.com | Allan Massie

Rich in memories and beautifully written, Ian Crofton’s account of a lifetime walking the hills and mountains of Scotland, England and Wales makes for a delightful book, and one of its peculiar pleasures is that the author derives as much enjoyment from small, friendly hills as he does from the grander mountains.
The Show Woman, by Emma Cowing review: 'enchanting'

1 month ago | scotsman.com | Allan Massie

Scotsman readers will already know Emma Cowing as a fine journalist from her time as features editor, and she has since written for most national newspapers and been named feature writer of the year at the Scottish Press Awards. She has come a bit late to novel writing, and The Show Woman is so enjoyable and well written (not always the same thing) that one can only wonder why it has taken her so long to turn novelist.
The Cost by Morgan Cry review: 'much that is ingenious, much that rings true'

1 month ago | scotsman.com | Allan Massie

Morgan Cry is also Gordon Brown, a founder of Scotland's crime writing festival Bloody Scotland, and a prolific author under both names. The Cost, a mysterious title for more than half the novel, is set in Fraserburgh, once one of Scotland's great fishing ports, now notorious for drug abuse and violent crime. It is, however, still a town of character, and one where the author spent holidays as a boy.
The Edinburgh Murders by Catriona McPherson review: 'entertaining but unconvincing'

1 month ago | scotsman.com | Allan Massie

Catriona McPherson’s novel begins splendidly with a death in the public baths in the Fountainbridge area of Edinburgh in the years after the Second World War. The district then, as she says in an author's note, was a working-class district with a slaughterhouse, tannery, brewery, sweet factory and the Co-op dairy stables. The atmosphere is splendidly and, for older readers, nostalgically recalled.
Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Uncharted Island by Olga Wojtas review: 'a delightful novel'

1 month ago | scotsman.com | Allan Massie

Given how crazy much of the world today seems, it’s strange that there seem to be fewer light-hearted comic novelists than was the case 60 or 70 years ago. Happily, a few dare to lift their head over the parapet. One is Olga Wojtas. Her short, elegant novels feature the Morningside librarian Shona McMonagle, the now middle-aged former prefect at Miss Blaine’s School for Girls, first brought to wider notice by an earlier alumna Miss Muriel Spark in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
‘Captive Queen’ Review: She Wanted to Break Free

2 months ago | wsj.com | Allan Massie

Newly decoded correspondence reveals that Mary, Queen of Scots was involved in various plots to free her from her English imprisonment. There have been many biographies of Mary, Queen of Scots. The best for the general reader is probably still Antonia Fraser’s, now more than 50 years old. More recent publications have examined everything from Mary’s relationship with her cousin Elizabeth to the betrayals, abductions and murders that have fascinated people for centuries. What need of another?
Scotland have underperformed and England confidence is soaring but Calcutta Cup may be horses for courses

Feb 21, 2025 | scotsman.com | Allan Massie

Mindset should not be an issue for Scotland at Twickenham"Horses for courses" is a common saying in the world of horse-racing. It can be applied to other sports too. There are all sorts of reasons. My late father-in-law used to say that Ireland were Scotland's "bogey" team, no matter where the match was played. The last ten years has proved him right. Difficult to say why, even though Ireland have been very good for the last ten years.