Why a Booktrail?
2000s: It all starts in the studio of an Edinburgh taxidermist
Beneath the Skin
What you need to know before your trail
Taking a job in the studio of an Edinburgh taxidermist probably isn’t Walt’s wisest decision. Suffering from combat stress and struggling to outrun the demons from his past, he now finds himself confronted by the undead on a daily basis.
His enigmatic boss, Alys, and her sister, Mouse, have their own uneasy relationship with the past. Someone doesn’t want to let them go. Can Walt save Mouse’s eight-year-old son, William, from becoming the next victim? And can he save himself?
Deliciously disturbing, this psychological thriller peels back the skin of one modern family to reveal the wounds no one wants to see. It deals with the effects of trauma and how facing up to vulnerability is sometimes the only way to let go of the past.
Travel Guide
Edinburgh
In the Stockbridge area of the city…..there’s a fictional taxidermist’s shop…..
“He came to a sudden stop when he spotted a sign lashed to some basement railings: Wanted: Assistant. Must be STRONG and not SQUEAMISH”
He presses his face to the window of the shop:
“..scrubbing at the grime with the cuff of his jacket. Yellow eyes stared back at him and he shied away, almost stumbling over an antelope’s head on a wooden shield leaning against the door jamb.”
“A bell jangled as he opened the door. Floor to ceiling shelves of sparrows and magpies and rooks dominated the space and there were tiny, delicate things too – butterflies pinned to beams, a sharp-nosed shrew beside the till. The cold air smelled of death, but clinically so, as if all the decay had been leached out.”
There’s visits to many other gothic streets such as George Street, Cockburn street and a visit to the National Museum on Chamber street….but it’s the shop that you’ll never get out of your head..
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Beneath the Skin
Destination : Edinburgh Author/Guide: Sandra Ireland Departure Time: 2000s
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