The Outlander

On a moonlit night in 1903, a mysterious young woman flees alone across the Canadian wilderness, one quick step ahead of her pursuers. Mary Boulton is nineteen years old, half mad, and widowed - by her own hand. Tearing through the forest with dogs howling in the distance, she is desperate, her nerves burning, and she is certain of one thing only - that her every move is being traced. Two red-headed brothers, rifles across their backs, lurch close behind her: monstrous figures, identical in every way, with the predatory look of hyenas. She has murdered their brother, and their cold lust for vengeance is unswerving. As the widow scrambles to stay ahead of them, the burden of her existence disintegrates into a battle in which the dangers of her own mind become more menacing than the dangers of the night. Along the way, the steely outlaw encounters a changing cast of misfits and eccentrics. Some, like the recluse known as 'The Ridgerunner', provide a brief respite from her solitude; others, like the Reverend Bonnycastle, offer support only to reveal that they too have their own demons raging inside. As she is plunged further away from civilisation, her path from retribution to redemption slowly unfurls. A startling transformation of the classic western narrative, The Outlander is the haunting tale of one young woman's deliberate journey deep into the wild.

About the Author :
Gil Adamson has written two acclaimed books of poetry, Primitive and Ashland, and a collection of stories, Help Me, Jacques Cousteau. Her work has also been widely published in magazines and literary journals. The Outlander is her first novel. It has won the International Association of Crime Writers' Dashiell Hammett Prize and the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Prize. It has also been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. She lives with writer Kevin Connolly in Toronto.

Review :
'A remarkable first novel, full of verve, beautifully written, and with all the panache of a great adventure' Michael Ondaatje 'From the outset, this atmospheric debut has a palpable air of menace ... With the breathless pace of an old-fashioned adventure story, and a supporting cast of mavericks, eccentrics and outcasts, this rich novel is packed full of drama' Daily Mail 'A superb adventure story' Kate Saunders, The Times 'Striking, thoughtful, full of unexpected twists, The Outlander is that rare delight: a novel that is beautifully written yet as gripping as any airport page-turner ... there are echoes of Cormac McCarthy. Hugely enjoyable ... A rattling good yarn' Guardian