Windswept
Published by William Collins Books, £16.99, hardback
ANYONE who has visited the Scottish Highlands and seen first-hand the crofting communities has no doubt imagined themselves living on and maintaining a croft. Like the off-grid cabin sitting deep in the woods, it’s a dream most won’t explore but will always wonder about. In Windswept, Annie Worsley takes the ‘what if ’ out of the idea and shares a year in the life with the reader, documenting the experience using the natural world as an indicator of time.
After many years living on Red River Croft and taking copious notes on each natural interaction, Annie has compiled excerpts into an almanac of sorts, showing the realistic and romantic tribute to life in the Highlands. Adventurers at heart, Annie and her husband Rob spent their spare time exploring the mountains; but after a mysterious illness took its toll on her health, Annie was confined to the croft and surrounding areas, watching the natural world thrive and buzz around her from conveniently placed sitting spots, including a small, home-made bench overlooking the sea.
Windswept tells the croft’s past, present and potential future stories, with every sense painstakingly described to place the reader squarely in the howling wind and the seasonally shifting colours. Annie doesn’t just live here; she’s explored the history via an old book by a previous inhabitant; she lives with the croft, not on it. She studied how it works, the order of nature and how each an
