Greater Sins
by Gabrielle Griffiths
Greater Sins is an atmospheric debut novel by Gabrielle Griffiths. It is set in the Cabrach region, a remote rural community in Northern Scotland, to the west of Aberdeen. The year is 1915, and many young (and some older) men are volunteering to go to war, from rich landowners such as William Calder to farmhands eager to seek glory, adventure or, possibly, an escape from their exhausting, hand-to-mouth existence. In this context of change and upheaval, an ancient woman’s body is discovered in a pet bog, remarkably preserved. This strange discovery brings together an unlikely couple – Elizabeth “Lizzie” Calder, William’s wife, and Johnny Nicol, a nomadic folk singer who has decided to stay awhile and help at a local farm. It is not long before the mysterious figure of the bog woman takes over the superstitious imagination of the villagers, who ascribe to her a series of unfortunate events which befall the community. This will also lead Lizzie and Johnny to a reckoning with their past.
While told in the third person, this novel alternates between the respective perspectives of Elizabeth and Johnny, and also between two timelines – 1905 and 1915. The characters Griffiths creates are complex, nuanced and empathetically portrayed: villains have their redeeming features, the protagonists their foibles and flaws.
The novel’s judicious use
of Scots dialect and evocative descriptions give it the mark of authenticity. In
fact, Greater Sins is historical fiction firmly rooted in gritty realism. At the same time, it borrows certain tropes
from Gothic fiction and folk horror (superstition in a small rural community; a
mysterious corpse which might be the source of ill-luck; references to
witchcraft and Faustian pacts). The result is a novel which artfully combines a
strong feel for historical time and place, with a fable-like sense of mystery.
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