Sunset Song, Mitchell’s tribute to his native ‘Kinraddie’ caused a sensation in 1932 and his reputation rests principally upon his first Grassic Gibbon novel.  His unique powers as a writer are indeed most prominent in this book, in the subtle style blending Scots and English, the riveting storyline, vibrant characterisation – particularly that of the heroine, Chris Guthrie – and the setting described with a sensitivity heightened by exile.

Sunset Song, Gibbon’s Scottish crofting elegy, is eloquent in its championing of human rights as it is lyrical in its celebration of the natural world.

Grassic Gibbon emulated this achievement in the two sequels, Cloud Howe and Grey Granite and the trilogy as a whole remains a landmark in Scottish literature.