The acclaimed novel of brothers working on a Scottish estate during WWII “has a strange haunting poetic quality…a fable of eternal significance” (Iain Crichton Smith). As World War II rages through Europe, brothers Calum and Neil work to gather pinecones in the grounds of a Scottish estate. Once the forest is cut down to support the war effort, the cones will be used to replenish what is lost. For simple, mis-shapen Calum, who cannot stand to witness the suffering of others, it is an ideal job far from the terrors of war. But when Calum releases two mutilated rabbits from a snare, he comes face to face with Duror, the pitiless and obsessive gamekeeper. In retaliation for Calum’s betrayal, Duror lays a trap for the cone-gatherers. Having grown more cynical than his brother, Neil prophesizes that forces of evil will eventually encroach upon the harmony of their lives. It is a prophesy that comes true when Duror commits an act so brutal it destroys all sense of humanity in the once thriving wood. “A masterpiece of concision and terrible pathos,” Robin Jenkins’ The Cone-Gatherers is a haunting story of love and violence, and an investigation of class-conflict, war, and envy (Isobel Murray).

‘The best-kept secret in modern British literature.’ Andrew MarrA haunting story of violence and love.Calum and Neil are the cone-gatherers – two brothers at work in the forest of a large Scottish estate. But the harmony of their life together is shadowed by the obsessive hatred of Duror, the gamekeeper.Set during the Second World War, Robin Jenkins’ greatest novel is an immensely powerful examination of good and evil, and mankind’s propensity for both. Removed from the destruction and bloodshed of the war, the brothers’ oblivious happiness becomes increasingly fragile as darker forces close in around them.Suspenseful, dark and unforgettable, The Cone-Gatherers is a towering work of fiction, a masterpiece of modern Scottish literature.‘Let me alert everyone to the best-kept secret in modern British literature. If you love the novel; if you are interested in books that are humane and wise, not slick and cynical; then treat yourself this year to some Robin Jenkins.’ Andrew Marr‘A masterpiece of concision and terrible pathos.’ Isobel Murray‘Like all the great masters, his skill is lightly worn, his sentences singing with what he does not say.’ The Times‘Few novels in our heritage have the bell-like harmonies of this book . . . it has a strange, haunting poetic quality, conjuring from a few props a fable of eternal significance.’ Iain Crichton Smith