The Professor of Truth

Description

The acclaimed new novel from one of Scotland's - and Europe's - most essential writers Twenty-one years after his wife and daughter were murdered in the bombing of a plane over Scotland, Alan Tealing, a university lecturer, still doubts the official version of events surrounding that terrible night. Obsessed by the details of what he has come to call The Case, he is sure that the man convicted of the atrocity was not responsible, and that he himself has thus been deprived not only of justice but also of any chance of escape from his enduring grief. When a terminally ill American intelligence officer arrives on his doorstep with information about a key witness in the trial, Alan decides to act. Will this lead to the truth for which he has waited so long?

James Robertson was born in Scotland in 1958. He is the author of The Fanatic, Joseph Knight, The Testament of Gideon Mack, And the Land Lay Still, and The Professor of Truth. Joseph Knight won the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year, The Testament of Gideon Mack was longlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize, and And the Land Lay Still won the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year. Robertson is also the author of four short story collections, most recently 365: Stories, five poetry collections and numerous children's books written in English and Scots. He runs the independent publishing house Kettillonia, and he is co-founder and general editor of the Scots language imprint Itchy Coo, which produces books in Scots for children and young adults. His forthcoming book, To Be Continued, will be published in August 2016 by Hamish Hamilton.

A great storyteller . . . It is a tense and gripping read, beautifully imagined' * The Times * Sensitive but provocative . . . confirms Robertson as one of Scotland's great contemporary storytellers * Herald * Powered by action and mystery, and profoundly invested in the emotional lives of its characters * Scotsman * Robertson again proves himself to be one of Scotland's best writers and one of the best writers in the world at exploring the traumas, upheavals, and political currents that form modern Scotland * The Skinny * Superb. A mystery thriller, a haunting evocation of grief * Daily Mail * Impressive, brilliant, terrific * Sunday Telegraph *