A Bit of Crack and Car Culture sold over 5,000 copies in trade paperback on its first appearance. Scotland the Best ranks it as one of the ten essential Scottish books. It has been out of print for two years.
'She has an undeniable gift for creating a scene, describing a moment . . . she can switch from the hilarious to the poignant on the turn of a phrase . . . a distinguished addition to the register of Scottish writers.' - Aonghas MacNeacail
'. . . . like Neil Gunn, Bess captures the ethos of their mutual landscape and its idiom . . .' - Jessie Kesson
'. . . . the joys and ardours of childhood are well-nigh perfectly conveyed . . . she has the gift, so necessary to a story-teller of dialogue . . .' - George Mackay Brown |