Undiscovered Scotland

 

"Murray Hall: A Novel" by Milo Allan is a fascinating book that weaves together the strands of an unconventional life. The authors, Milo Clenshaw and Vicky Allan, say in their postscript: "Murray Hall was a real person, and there are facts about his life that can be fairly convincingly confirmed, but the truth and motivation behind the way he lived is entirely lost to time."

Quite unlike anything I've read before, the book uses the form of a novel to help fill in the gaps in the real story of its central subject. The book is well-written and immersive, bringing its characters and the New York City of the turn of the 20th century to life in a very convincing way.

You get a good sense of the story from the publisher's description of it. "It is 1901, and Dr Gallagher has just pronounced Murray Hall dead. New York politico, gambler, womaniser - Hall is all these things, but when the press break the news of his death to the world, they reveal a side to his identity he never wanted known, a secret no one could have guessed. One journalist is determined to uncover the truth of Hall's past, but his search leads him down winding alleys of fact and fiction. From humble beginnings in Glasgow's tenements to a life spent rubbing up against New York's political elite, Murray Hall is the definition of a self-made man. But the higher his status rises, the higher the stakes become. Inspired by a true story of one Scot's rise to prominence, Murray Hall unearths a queer past erased by history, finally bringing all the puzzle pieces together to discover the secret of this extraordinary, ordinary man, which shocked New York, America and the world."

The secret at the heart of Murray Hall's life, and this novel about him, is one that is revealed very early in the book. Yet as it's kept concealed in the cover blurb it seems spoiling to give it away here. That makes this a book it's hard to discuss in any detail. Perhaps I'll just have to settle for saying that what you find between the covers is a thought-provoking, engaging, enjoyable and memorable testament to a truly remarkable character.