Most book-loving adults will have read 1984 at some time in their lives. What a lot of people don't know, though, is how a remote Scottish island (which these days feels like an antidote to everything 1984-ish in the world) helped inspire the masterpiece.

​

In 1947, George Orwell was on the Isle of Jura, seeking solitude and nature to help his health and make it easier to focus on writing. It was here, surrounded by the island's natural beauty and harsh conditions, that he found both the peace and the stark reality that shaped his vision of a totalitarian future.

​

While there, he had a terrifying encounter with the Corryvreckan whirlpool, nearly losing not just his own life but his son's as well. Writing in a cold, damp house while battling tuberculosis, nearly dying in a whirlpool—all of it must surely have inspired the novel he worked on while there.

​

You can read more about his life, including his time on Jura, in Diaries. You can also click HERE to use Google Streetview to "walk" around the parts of the island that have been added.

​

---

​14 New British Crime Novels for Autumn 2024 - In this one, we take a look at some of the best new mystery and crime novels coming out in late summer/early autumn 2024.

---

---

Featured Selections...

​

• ​The Dead Beneath Us by Matthew J. Evans - DCI Beniamin Dinescu tackles his darkest case yet in West Sussex, investigating a brutal murder at a prestigious private school and its connection to a schoolgirl's disappearance in the 1980s. At the same time, he's dealing with team tensions and his new sergeant's ambition.
• ​The House of Lost Wives by Rebecca Hardy - In 1813, Lizzie is sent to marry Lord Blountford after her sister Esme's mysterious death, becoming his fifth wife at Ambletye Manor. There, she uncovers the dark fates of the four wives before her and, using her unique gift, must unravel their secrets to avoid becoming the next victim.
• ​The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh - Emma's carefully constructed life with her husband Leo and daughter Ruby unravels when Leo, an obituary writer, starts researching her past. He discovers she's lied about everything—including her identity—forcing Emma to confront her darkest secrets and reveal the truth about her past and another love.
• ​The Break Down by BA Paris - Since the night Cass saw a car in the woods with a woman who was later found murdered, she’s been plagued by guilt and anxiety, her memory failing her on small details, and a growing sense of being watched—forcing her to question her sanity and what truly happened on that stormy road.
• ​Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert - When solicitor Marcus Smallbone is found dead in a deed box at his own law firm, Inspector Hazlerigg is called in to investigate a web of deceit, betrayal, and long-held secrets among the firm's partners and staff, all while uncovering a plot far more twisted than a straightforward murder.

---

---

More to Read...

​25 Enchanting British Films You Can Stream for Free (US) - Most of these are either based on literary works or loosely inspired by the lives of classic authors.

---

​8 British Mysteries Where a Real Person is the Fictional Sleuth - From Dickens as a detective to a sleuthing Jane Austen, these books borrow famous and historical people to solve their mysteries.

---

"Regular maps have few surprises: their contour lines reveal where the Andes are, and are reasonably clear. More precious, though, are the unpublished maps we make ourselves, of our city, our place, our daily world, our life; those maps of our private world we use every day; here I was happy, in that place I left my coat behind after a party, that is where I met my love; I cried there once, I was heartsore; but felt better round the corner once I saw the hills of Fife across the Forth, things of that sort, our personal memories, that make the private tapestry of our lives."

​

Alexander McCall Smith, Love Over Scotland​

---