Part autobiography, part fiction, this is a beautifully written story of crofting life in the run up to the Second World War. Set in Ardnamurchan, it is both very different yet complementary to Alasdair MAclean's book, Night Falls on Ardnamurchan. However, where Night Falls is an elegy to a dying community and way of life, The Field of Sighing is a celebration not simply of the crofting way of life but also of the astonishing natural beauty of the area, from the magnificence of the mountains and the grandeur of the sea, which form an imposing backdrop to the book, to the intimacy of the meadows and flowers.
The members of the small community around which the author's narrative revolves, particularly his grandmother, 'Herself', a figure of immense significance in his life, are superbly characterised. The book is full not only of day-to-day happenings of the community, which are recorded with perception and humour, but also of the folk wisdom and traditions of the area. It celebrates for the west of Scotland the way of life which Sunset Song does for the east and deserves to become as much a classic.
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