Solitaries, Outcasts and Doubles: The Fictional Oeuvre of John Burnside

Abstract

This article introduces the fictional oeuvre of the Scottish author John Burnside by examining two significant ways in which his most recent novel, A Summer of Drowning (2011), signals a departure from his earlier work. Specifically, it examines the appearance of a female protagonist, and the clear separation between the realms of everyday and magical as the principal features that illustrate this change. In terms of the treatment of the everyday and the magical, I focus on the representation of liminal spaces, solitaries, outcasts and recluses, and the role of the figure of the double or twin as key themes. Although critics have noted a shift in his fictions, the exact elements that constitute this change have not been explored, and I argue that it is precisely the treatment of the everyday and the magical that has contributed to increased scholarly and critical attention for Burnside's fictional prose. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.