# Greenvoe

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/george-mackay-brown/greenvoe/9781846975059

JSON version (same data): https://www.bookquiver.com/george-mackay-brown/greenvoe/9781846975059.json

![Greenvoe](https://quivercdn.com/covers/birlinn/george-mackay-brown/greenvoe_978-18-4697-505-9-37f0ac89.webp?v=2026-11-08%2005%3A45%3A34)

- Book: [Greenvoe](https://www.bookquiver.com/george-mackay-brown/greenvoe) ([Greenvoe.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/george-mackay-brown/greenvoe.md))
- Authors: [George Mackay-Brown](https://www.bookquiver.com/george-mackay-brown)
- Publisher: Birlinn
- ISBN: 978-18-4697-505-9
- Pages: 256
- Published: 2019-06-27
- Language: en_US
- Binding: Softcover

## Description

Greenvoe, the tight-knit community on the Orcadian island of Hellya, has existed unchanged for generations, but Operation Black Star requires the island for unspecified purposes and threatens the islanders’ way of life. A whole host of characters - The Skarf, failed fishermen and Marxist historian; Ivan Westray, boatman and dallier; pious creeler Samuel Whaness; drunken fishermen Bert Kerston; earth-mother Alice Voar, and meths-drinker Timmy Folster - are vividly brought to life in this sparkling mixture of prose and poetry. In the end Operation Black Star fails, but not before it has ruined the island; but the book ends on a note of hope as the islanders return to celebrate the ritual rebirth of Hellya.