Overview

On a wind lashed coast in the far north of Scotland, a group of men assemble on a construction site. The Ness and Struie Drainage Project will dominate their lives for the next few months as they toil through the daylight hours and into the night, endure hardship, harsh weather, harsh words and conflict.

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9781914518300

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Reviews

'Davidson has given voice to a whole class of people who are treated simply as figures on a balance sheet by economists, or peripheral stereotypes by other novelists. Site Works deserves to be read by the very men to whose lives it gives such beautiful attention.' -- Alan Bissett 'Robert Davidson has created a modern Scottish classic.' -- Duncan MacLean 'A modern Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Site Works is a meticulous, fascinating and skilfully written exploration of the brutal realities of modern capitalism.' -- Fiona Erskine, author of The Chemical Detective series and Phosphate Rocks 'A fascinating and refreshing read, tough, masculine and humane. Site Works demonstrates the skill and sheer toil it takes to provide the common amenities - like light and water - that we take so much for granted.' -- Lesley Glaister 'Davidson has come up with an incredibly vivid depiction of a temporary community of transient workers, which is almost too authentic for comfort.' -- Alastair Mabbott in The Herald 'An enthralling, vivid novel.' -- Charles Gorer in The Northern Times 'Poetic passages and concise pen portraits are woven into an enlightening tale which lifts the lid on a world of which few are aware.' * Ross-shire Journal * 'Site Works is one of the few novels to write about working life successfully. It depicts the harsh and often bleak lives of men on construction sites - you believe in these guys, sometimes admiring them, often disliking them, but never indifferent. The work they do is often boring - but the writing about it never is.' -- Moira Forsyth 'These days there are plenty of novels featuring work in offices, but almost none about the kind of work that enables offices to exist in the first place. This is one of the few, and maybe the best. ' -- Ken MacLeod 'Not only a tale of men struggling to maintain their lives in the harsh adversity of a Scottish winter, but also a realistic contemplation of the varying ideals and hopes of each man working on the project.' * The Scotsman * 'I love Site Works, as good a book as I've read about the world of work.' -- Peter Ross, author of A Tomb with a View 'Site Works deals with reality. But out of this weird amalgam of concrete blocks, pipes, and bricks I had the sense, almost a magical sense, that a structure, something essential to our civilisation, was emerging.' -- Katherine Stewart, author of A Croft in the Hills

Author Information

Robert Davidson is a writer and editor based in Highland Scotland. He is the author, co-author, and editor of many books as well as a published poet, lyricist and librettist. As a civil engineer, he worked mainly in or around the water industry and it is this experience which informs Site Works.

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