The Book of I

Synopsis

The year is 825 CE. After a brutal raid on a remote Scottish island, only a handful of people remain alive: Brother Martin, a young monk who has escaped the destruction of his monastery; Una, a beekeeper and mead maker newly freed from a violent husband; and Grimur, an aging Norseman abandoned for dead by his fellow raiders.

Forced together in an isolated landscape, suspicion gradually gives way to an unexpected and complicated bond. As the seasons pass, David Greig brings the distant past vividly to life with dark humour and sharp dialogue, using this unlikely community to explore guilt, redemption, faith, love, and the stories people choose to believe. Shortlisted for the Highland Book Prize, The Book of I is a bloody, funny, philosophical novel about survival and the strange ways people learn to live alongside one another.

About the Author

David Greig is a Scottish writer and playwright whose work has been performed extensively throughout the UK and internationally. His plays include The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, Touching the Void, Midsummer, The Events, Local Hero, and Dunsinane. He served as Artistic Director of Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre from 2015 to 2025. The Book of I is his first novel.

Publisher

Europa Editions

Publication Date

March 24, 2026

Format

Paperback

Pages

160

Subjects

Literary Fiction · Scottish Fiction · Historical Fiction · Medieval Fiction · Sea Stories · Humorous Fiction

ISBN

9798889661979