books in order

Alan Spence Books In Order

Novels

  1. The Magic Flute (1990)
  2. Way to Go (1998)
  3. The Pure Land (2004)
  4. Night Boat (2013)

Collections

  1. Its Colours They Are Fine (1977)
  2. Stone Garden and Other Stories (1995)

Plays

  1. Sailmaker (1982)
  2. Space Invaders (1983)

Non fiction

  1. Changed Days (1991)

Novels Book Covers

Collections Book Covers

Plays Book Covers

Non fiction Book Covers

Alan Spence Books Overview

Way to Go

A major new novel about the scottish way of death, from one of Glasgow’s most accomplished writters. Alan Spence’s first book, a volume of stories called its colours thay are fine won him great praise and has remasined in print since first publication, popular in schools and colleges in Scotland for its straightforward but vibrant view of life in the Glasgow vernacular. His long awaited new novel, Way to Go lifts the lids on the Glasgow undertaking industry and continues his striking, bleaky funny explorations of the themes of spirituality and emotional salvation.

The Pure Land

The Pure Land resurrects the dramatic life of Thomas Glover, the Scottish businessman who helped overthrow the shogun and whose tumultuous love affairs inspired the opera Madame Butterfly and the musical Miss Saigon. Alan Spence has transformed this true story into an unforgettable hundred year saga that culminates in the annihilation of Nagasaki. Thomas Glover is a gutsy eighteen year old in Aberdeen in 1858 who grasps the chance of escape to foreign lands and takes a posting as a trader in Japan. Within ten years he amas*ses a great fortune, helps to modernize Japan, and, on the other side of the law, brings about the overthrow of the shogun. Yet beneath Glover’s astonishing success lies a man cut to the heart. His love affair with a courtesan a woman who, unknown to him, would bear him the son for whom he had always longed would form a tragedy so heartrending that the story became immortal. Called a page turner of the first order…
an engaging and vivid historical novel, but also a meditative work of art by The Times of London, The Pure Land is a modern epic, a rattling good adventure, a devastating love story, and a journey of the spirit.

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