His Bloody Project

As to the general character of Roderick Macrae, there is no doubt that he was a queer boy, but whether this was by nature or had been brought on by the tribulations which his family suffered, I am not qualified to say. The evidence of his deeds, however, does not speak of a sound mind. With any story, there is more than one perspective and the truth may lie somewhere in-between. The year is 1869 and the small crofting community of Culduie has been torn apart by a brutal murder. A young man, Roderick Macrae has been arrested, caught in the act there is no doubt that the blood is on his hands. Residents of Culduie give very different accounts of Macrae. He is at once pleasant, talented, hardworking, a ‘queer boy’ and ‘noxious progeny’. He is also condemned to die. Then there is Macrae’s own account of his actions; an account which is at once remorseless, embittered and moving. On the advice of his advocate, Andrew Sinclair, Macrae tells his story, aware that this one man’s powers of persuasion stand between him and the noose at Inverness. Told through newspaper clippings, personal testimony and first-hand account, this is a novel that draws you into an isolated, taxing landscape where communities are tight-knit and dangerously insular and where rules are made and broken under the eye of watchful and judgemental eyes.Ex-Waterstones bookseller Graeme Macrae Burnet provoked a literary sensation on the publication of this masterful, multi-viewpoint tale, seeing His Bloody Project not only shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2016 but going on to hold the public vote until ultimately pipped by Paul Beatty's satire The Sellout. You can read our Q&A with Graeme here.