Book review: The House by the Loch, by Kirsty Wark

Novels are stories. They may be other things as well and good novels offer other delights. The story may be simple – “once upon a time” – or it may be rich in complication and deepened as a consequence of being addressed from different perspectives or by time-shifts. But the story is the skeleton. Without the story you have essays or mood pieces, often – sadly – no compelling reason to read further. The first thing to be said about Kirsty Wark’s second novel, The House by the Loch, is that it is a very good story. It holds you. You are eager to know how it will unfold.