Val McDermid and Jo Sharp: This Door Of The Seas book review – Resurfacing Scottish stories
The latest Darkland Tales novella is a fact-fiction blend of adventure, betrayal and romance
The newest installment of Polygon’s Darkland Tales series is a part of Scotland’s history that remains relatively and surprisingly unknown. This Door Of The Seas is the brainchild of acclaimed novelist Val McDermid and Geographer Royal Jo Sharp who, after a long drive from Assynt to Edinburgh, decided to share the compelling story of the nation’s failed attempt at colonising Panama’s Darién Gap, and the complicated series of events which eventually led to the 1707 Act Of Union.
The book is both imagined and painstakingly researched to provide a firsthand account through the letters of Dr James Wallace, one of the first real-life voyagers, as he reports back to his employer and pines for his wife, Eliza, who is expected to join him in the foretold tropical paradise. Aboard the Unicorn we travel with Wallace from the docks of Leith to their new home, enduring unsavoury conditions, severe storms and piracy. Reaching the crystalline shores of Panama’s jungle, the endless flora and fauna along with the good-natured native inhabitants buoy their hopes. But sure enough, a deadly sickness, power struggles, food shortages and sunken ships change the promised utopia into a hellish landscape.
Though the account of Wallace is based on historical sources, This Door Of The Seas has a sense of wonder that wouldn’t be out of place in Gulliver’s Travels. Despite feeling slightly rose-tinted regarding Scottish attitudes toward the slave trade, McDermid and Sharp masterfully illustrate the 17th-century journey. They show the ambitions of the colonial mindset amid the reality of betrayals by a ruling class (leading to death, destruction and desertion) while maintaining a sweet love story. Altogether, this novella is an enriching and impressive retelling of a crucial moment that would change Scotland’s future.
This Door Of The Seas is published by Polygon on Thursday 6 August; main picture: Ryan Rutherford.