I have for a long time been fascinated by this tiny group of islands far off the coast of Scotland, the furthest flung inhabited part of the British Isles until the final small population of 36 souls were evacuated in 1930. Their survival had become increasingly precarious due to their economy of bird products and tweed being unable to keep up with the changing world in the late 19th and early 20th century, and the population having diminished as young people and whole families left the island to seek a future elsewhere.

This story concerns the visit of two eager young Cambridge archaeology students - Archie Macleod, son of the island's owner, and his friend Fred Lawson - to the island in summer 1927 and how they interact with the locals, particularly with young Chrissie Gillies. We are also presented with Fred Lawson being a prisoner of war in France in 1941 and through jumps between time zones, the novel traces the course of events between 1927 and 1941, and the happy ending that results for our leading characters. For once in a novel set partly in the Second World War, the War is not the main focus, the islands of St Kilda are the real hero of the story - a beautiful and terrifying set of rocks essentially in the open Atlantic and subject to that ocean's raw power and fury.

Birds were the very essence of the islanders' lives, the source of protein and one of the main economic strengths of the islanders: "the sky is alive with bird wings.. The black-tipped bent spikes of the great gannets’ wings, the flutter of scissorbeaked kittiwakes, fulmars, skewars, puffins, petrels – the same birds that supply most of the islander’s primitive diet." Even now, when St Kilda is a World Heritage site, it is "home to a tenth of the British Isles’ seabird population". Its inhabitants understandably saw it as the centre of their universe and its way of life against the encroachment of the outside world. As Chrissie says, "I believed in my heart that there was no better place or family that a child might have than this island, this jewel that had fallen from the pocket of God and where all men feel Him near and find the blessed solace of being welcome at every hearth along the strand of lighted bothies, be it even in the greatest and the darkest of storms." ( )

I felt a special connection to this book, as my wife's family originally came from St Kilda, and were evacuated in the 1930s. I have also been to St Kilda, but not to land, just sailing around the group of islands and sea stacs. The whole environment and way of life is captured very clearly and in a very evocative way, including the follow-up of the families settling in very unfamiliar surroundings on the mainland. The story of the characters works well, but for me the real star is the island itself. ( )

The Lost Lights Of St Kilda is a dual timeline novel of lost love and quite beauty. The locations are 1940’s France and 1927 St Kilda, a grouping of islands off the west coast of Scotland.
The female protagonist is Chrissie Gillies a young woman born and raised on St. Kilda. Life there is slow and filled with love but the harsh weather and conditions on the island make living there very difficult. Chrissie wishes to never leave.
Fred Lawson is a young man who spends the summer of 1927 on St Kida’s to complete his geology thesis for Cambridge University. Both figure prominently in the 1927 St.Kilda timeline as they meet, and no spoiler here, fall in love. The 1940’s time line centers mainly on Fred. He is a soldier caught by the Germans at the battle for St. Valery where many Scotsmen were killed or captured, as the army retreated. It is his attempt to escape the Germans, flee France and remember his lost love of St Kilda that comprises his 1940’s story. Chrissie in the1940’s is living in Scotland with her teenage daughter. At her daughter Rachel Anne’s insistence she begins too recall life on St Kildas and eventually her lost love.Fred.
This novel is very well written. St Kilda is a small cluster of volcanic islands that are heavily windswept and desolate. Through Ms. Gifford’s lyrical prose I was able to envision the stark, natural, and unspoiled beauty of st. Kilda’s so well that looking at pictures online I found that my visions were accurate. That takes talent on the part of an author! She also demonstrates her talents as she describes the people of St. Kildas. They are a hardy group of strong people who take joy in the simple things and love their island fiercely. Ms. Gifford shows us their quiet courage and dignity. They become another character in the novel. We as readers care about them. We worry about their future as it becomes clear that their numbers are dwindling and there may be too few of them to survive winter.
I loved that the characters become real people. We learn not just their descriptions and actions, but their beliefs, hopes and dreams. We learn the motivations behind their actions. They are allowed to change, grow and mature as the story unfolds. That this is such a rarity in fiction is a shame since it added a very satisfying dimension to the story.
This is an emotional read. Through the authors prose we not only see the calm beauty of first love but also the horror of war. It is this juxtaposition of the two that forms the core of the novel. It is Fred’s frantic attempt at fleeing from France that set’s the pace and tension that leads to the stories climax. Will Fred escape France? Will he and Chrissie ever see each other again? These are questions that you’ll have to read the book to answer!
4 stars! Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and romance.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley. This fact in no way influenced my review. ( )

Told in two timelines, 1927 and 1940, this a story of love – between two people, and for an island and an endangered way of life. In ‘The Lost Lights of St Kilda’ by Elisabeth Gifford, the beautiful yet harsh landscape of the island is made vividly alive. This is a delight to read, a novel about love, trust, betrayal and forgiveness.
In 1940 Fred Lawson, a Scottish soldier from the 51st Highland Division, is imprisoned at Tournai, captured at St Valery in retreat as other soldiers were being evacuated at Dunkirk. Through the darkest moments of fighting, his memories of St Kilda sustain him. ‘It was your face that had stayed with me as we fought in France. It was you who’d sustained me when we were hungry and without sleep for nights as we fought the retreating action back towards the Normandy coast.’ Fred escapes and heads for Spain, forced to trust strangers, not knowing who is a friend and who is an informer, but drawn on by his memories of St Kilda.
At the same moment in Scotland, a teenage daughter longs to know more of her birth. Says Rachel Anne, ‘My mother says I am her whole, world, and she is mine, but all the same I would still like to know at least the name of my father.’
In 1927, geology student Fred travels to the remote Scottish island of St Kilda with his university friend Archie Macleod whose father owns the island. No one knows that three years later the island will be abandoned, the population on the edge of starvation. Archie, the laird’s son, has a privileged position on the island. As a teenage boy he played with the island children, play acting at the work their fathers do, learning their future trades – farming, catching puffins and fulmars – on the dangerous cliffs. And he flirts with Chrissie Gillies. But by the time Archie returns to the island in 1927 with Fred, he has developed an arrogance and a liking for whisky. Over the long summer months, Fred falls in love with the island and with Chrissie. Everything changes when tragedy strikes.
This is a beautiful read, contrasting the softness and closeness of romance with the harsh facts of life as the difficulties of island survival are laid bare. Life in the summer months seems an idyll of isolation and peace, a return to the basics of life that matter. But inevitably winter approaches and, as the real world is complicated, a misunderstanding occurs. But hope is never abandoned. Despite being separated by the years and by lies, Fred and Chrissie never forget each other.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/ ( )

I have very fond memories of Elisabeth Gifford's first book, Secrets of the Sea House. That was a dual timeframe story with a similar setting to The Lost Lights of St Kilda, that being the islands of Scotland.

In The Lost Lights… the two aspects of the story take place quite close together, in 1927 and 1940. The earlier story is set on St Kilda, a very isolated island where the villagers are far from thriving. They are largely forgotten, even the mail ship doesn't stop there. Fred Lawson and Archie Macleod visit one summer and Fred is captivated by Chrissie, a young islander. But the path of love does not run smoothly for them. We see events from Fred's point of view and from Chrissie's.

Then in 1940 Fred is in France during WWII, one of the Cameron Highlanders. We witness his daring attempts at escape but what it also gives him is a reason to live and to try and return to Chrissie.

This is a beautifully written, lyrical and lilting novel. I'm always so drawn to island stories, especially Scottish islands. I think there's a romantic feel to the windswept, stark nature of them, although in reality it's far from perfect and is often such a difficult life. Elisabeth Gifford puts across perfectly the difficulties that the St Kildans faced and she's obviously done a lot of research into the island and the people who called it their home. Their plight in having to leave is plain to see.

This is not a quick or fast paced read and I didn't always find it the easiest of reads as it's quite intense, but it's full of atmosphere and is such a moving story. It's a book to savour as the setting draws the reader in and the sparse but poetic writing put me right there, whether it be on St Kilda or in France. It's ultimately the unfolding of a love story over a number of years but it's just as much a love letter to St Kilda too. ( )