Murray Watson has a project he is not quite as excited about it as he should be. He is not really sure what has happened, but with each turn in his research, he hits a wall and discovers another depressing fact about his life. Murray, a professor at a Scotland university, has been interested in the poet Archie Lunan since he was a teenager. He longs to write a book about the poet and his life. Archie, who died over 30 years earlier, probably had a sad life, but little is known about the man.

Murray has his own issues. His relationship with his brother is strained due to their different perspectives surrounding the death of their father. Murray also doesn't seem to have much luck with women, and even the short affair with his department chair's wife has fallen flat after someone sees them one night making love in his office. Murray is worried the department chair will discover his involvement with his wife and he will be out of a job.

His attempts to glean information on Archie from various professors, who have had experience with Archie and his work, are futile when they are less than willing to open up. But they give him just enough information to pursue the leads. His one big hopeful interview would be with Christie Graves, an intimate friend to Archie, but she has turned him down.

When Murray is at the point of giving up his book project, he decides to continue to the island where Archie died, if anything just to get away from the mess of his life, but really to fulfill his responsibility. There he encounters Christie Graves. The excitement to interview her has dissipated. Murray starts to feel numb about life. Yet he can't turn back because Christie has changed her mind. It's the shocking stipulations of the interview that forever change Murray.

When I started reading NAMING THE BONES, I was anxious for the plot surrounding Archie Lunan to pick up, but what I realized is that NAMING THE BONES is really a journey of self-understanding for the character Murray. Louise Welsh does a fabulous job with the characters. Their redemptions are emotional and exciting. I recommend this story wholeheartedly.

Book Summary

Professor Murray Watson is rather a sad sack. His family, his career, his affair...not even drinking offers much joy. All his energies are now focused on his research into Archie Lunan, a minor poet who drowned 30 years ago off a remote stretch of Scottish coast. By redeeming Lunan's reputation, Watson hopes to redeem his own. But the more he learns about Lunan's sordid life, the more unlikely redemption appears.