The Rain Goose

Synopsis

A painterly literary ghost story from the Guardian Fiction Prize-winning author of The Levels – set on the cliffs and lochs of Orkney.

When his wife Mary dies, a retired mechanic leaves the south of England and buys a small house in Orkney. He has his birds, his walks, his memories. And then, one wild morning on the cliffs at Marwick Head, a young woman in an old-fashioned coat steps quietly off the edge in front of him. She is not the first to have done so. Her name was Bethany Buchanan. The year was 1956.

A quiet, painterly literary ghost story set against the lochs, fulmars and red-throated divers of the Orkney isles, The Rain Goose is the thirteenth novel from the Guardian Fiction Prize-winning author of The Levels, and a tender study of grief, the call of the dead, and the slow work of letting them go.

Praise for Previous Work

‘(On The Levels) A very apt and unillusioned sort of modern pastoral, blessed with the kind of narrative gift that’s like perfect pitch.’ —The Guardian

‘(On The Other Occupant) A gem of understatement and compassion.’ —The Evening Standard

‘(On Odo’s Hanging) The story, both mysterious and mystical, is told in exquisitely simple language, and is Benson’s most eloquent fiction yet.’ —The Mail on Sunday

‘(On Riptide) Little gems of metaphor glint on every page … a triumph.’ —The Daily Mail

‘(On A Private Moon) Benson delivers great lines in a glorious deadpan … Death itself is the real criminal in this tale, and the real mystery is how we reconcile ourselves to knowing that he will doubtless pull the big job on us one day.’ —The Sunday Telegraph

‘(On The Shape of Clouds) Benson is a sharp stylist and delivers great lines in a glorious deadpan … Fine writing, clear thinking and a life-enhancing sense of hope.’ —Sunday Telegraph