#93 The Outrun

The Outrun
By Amy Liptrot

A memoir. I don't usually read memoirs, and in fact, when I started reading this book I didn't realize that it was a memoir. I kept reading and couldn't quite figure out why nothing really happened and why it didn't feel like a novel. Then I realized, oh, it's was a memoir.

So I read most of it, but at the end it was getting kind of boring so I skimmed to the end.

The memoir is about a late 20s woman trying to get over 10 years of alcoholism. She was born on Orkney Island, a small island off the northern tip of Scotland. She lived there until her late teens, when she moved to London and quickly became an alcoholic.

She finally admits she has a problem and goes back to Orkney to get away from the booze and the scene of her downfall in London. She becomes enamoured of the natural beauty of Orkney, the birds, the ocean, the stars, as well as the local people. She lives for a winter on Papay, a smaller yet island off of Orkney.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: Interesting if you're into the life of a recovering alcoholic, if you now it's a memoir and like reading memoirs, and if you're interested in the natural world on a remote island north of Scotland.