I always enjoy Elisabeth Gifford's novels and this is without doubt one of her very best. The Lost Lights of St Kilda is completely captivating with descriptions of a long gone way of life, the desolation of leaving a home and life you love, the intricacies of friendships and love, the horror and tensions of war torn Europe. The author gives her readers so much in this novel yet it is so extremely well-written she makes it seem effortless and holds her readers spellbound from start to finish. The book starts in St. Kilda in 1927 at a time when the islanders are finding it increasingly difficult to eke out a living on this beautiful but desolate island and is essentially the story of three people, Chrissie Gillies, Archie McLeod and Fred Lawson. Elisabeth Gifford's descriptions of St Kilda are so evocative she takes her readers straight there and we might almost think she grew up there herself so well does she describe the island and the islanders way of life. Onto the island come Archie, the son of the Laird, and his university friend, Fred. Old friendships and understandings are put to the test and feelings are reexamined with the realisation that things aren't always as they seem. Archie and Fred spend a summer on St. Kilda before returning to University and the events of that summer affect the lives of all three characters. After the outbreak of the second world war both Archie and Fred join the army and the author describes in detail Fred's terrible experiences from the time of Dunkirk and later meeting up with Archie after a gap of many years. The author alternates between Archie's reminiscing about the summer of 1927 and his current situation in Europe and chapters about Chrissie who eventually starts to tell her daughter about her life on St. Kilda and the people who had an impact on her life, particularly Fred and Archie. There is just so much to this book, romance, war story, social history, it's going to appeal to so many people. I couldn't put it down and read it in two evenings, absolutely brilliant.