Literature in the Lymes: A Review of ‘The Ballad of Innes of Skara Skaill’ by Faulkner Hunt

“He has created a land and characters that instantly feel familiar.“

Like Faulkner, I was raised at the knee of a storyteller and read everything in every conceivable accent to my children. Some of us were more often amused (me) than others (them) but, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing beats a story. A tale. A yarn. A ballad … so I  was, naturally, very excited about this one.

Any storyteller knows a tale about an island is a boon. The islands of northern Great Britain especially are remote and historically, literarily magical; a perfect step into The Ballad of Innes of Skara Skaill.

Skara Skaill is an island, fictional, off the coast of Scotland. It should feel barren and cold and unwelcoming.

It doesn’t.

This is Hunt’s talent, I think. He has created a land and characters that instantly feel familiar. Likable, as maybe vestiges of classic literature or amalgamations of people we relate to; his characters are tangible.

Obviously his work as a screenwriter comes into play (puns away) but not uncomfortably so. It’s more an auditory or visual hint that stands quietly off to the side. It stands just so as a lovely book and we aren’t just flipping through a script waiting for Colin Farrell to step in on screen. 

The setting and the characters are so organic it just flows. The smoke and fog and moss; It’s so quintessentially Scottish island moor yet not brow-beatenly gratuitous. It feels fresh, which is a feat.

It’s also fun.

The four main characters—Hamish, Innes, Rory and Tito—find each other in a plot to unearth and profit from the treasure mentioned in the legend of Skara Skaill. No ordinary ballad this. King Harald mentions a hoard and a hoard there be. It isn’t an ethically ambiguous plot. Each of the four is a good person with well-intentioned desires.

The bad guys are the opposite.

Like any ballad worth its salt; there are solid moral boundaries. 

With a mix of Robert Louis Stevenson meets a tamer Trainspotting (in a good way), the truth outs and I was hooked. The cast of minor characters is also excellent. Hermits, barmaids, conniving mules—Hunt paints a brilliant portrait.

Hunt has taken many familiar parts of literature and made something new. I was so comfortable to be on Skara Skaill. I was so happy to be with these people. It felt so natural and unrestrained that I mention it only because I’m suddenly aware of how rarely, as a reader, I do feel that way. I’d simply never noticed. 

This does not feel like a first novel.

If I had to guess, Faulkner has been writing it in his head for years.

Lucky us that he put pen to paper.

About the author: Jen Petty Hilger grew up in New York and London, England, but finds herself happily quiet living by the water in Old Lyme.

She and her husband have six children between them and a myriad of rescued animals.