Sally Magnusson MBE

We are delighted to announce that Sally Magnusson is returning to the St Duthac Book and Arts Festival!

When Sally Magnusson came to St Duthac Book and Arts Festival in 2021 she revealed she was researching for a novel she was writing set around the most brutal events of the Highland Clearances, that of Glen Calvie and Amat na Tua.

Her new novel, Music in the Dark, is based on the women who resisted the Strathcarron clearances in the 1840s and 50s, with several references to Tain. Sally will be in conversation with our own Catherine Williams.

Catherine writes a monthly column "Novel Ideas" for the Seaboard News to wet your appetite here is an extract from her column.

“Music in the Dark” is the result and I cannot remember the last time I read such beautiful prose. Sally’s descriptions of the glen, the air, the stillness, the sounds, and the people took my breath away, and at times moved me to tears. This is a must read, a novel yes, but at the same time, a faithful, accurate portrayal of a time not that long ago when sheep were more important than people and when power was in the hands of the few."