5 h 5 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if love runs deep, but fate holds the shore?
In Tragic Romances, Fiona Macleod brings you into the Scottish Highlands and western islands, where happiness is never safe. These short tales follow love beneath the shadow of longing and loss. Sea, mist, hill and weather seem to watch as people reach for what they cannot hope to keep.
Macleod, the pen name of William Sharp, draws on Gaelic folk tradition and the Celtic Revival. The collection explores fate stronger than desire, land and sea as living presences, and old belief woven into ordinary life. Omens, second sight and spirits belong to this world, told in dreamy, musical prose.
What you’ll discover
- Love under fate’s shadow Feel the ache of deep desire in tales where loving does not mean having control.
- A landscape that watches Enter a world where sea, shore and weather feel like presences rather than scenery.
- Old beliefs close by Discover tales where omens, spirits and second sight sit beside the concerns of everyday life.
- Prose with a musical pulse Let Macleod’s dreamy sentences draw you into the sorrow and longing of these Celtic tales.
- The name behind the tales Meet the literary identity through which William Sharp expresses a hidden side of himself.
Who will love it
Readers who love Celtic folklore, ghost stories, sea legends and tales of doomed love will feel at home in these seven Highland and island stories, full of song, charms and weather.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Highland family hears of a daughter's ruin
- Oaths and music gather around a seal-clan fisherman
- A stranger agrees to eat a dead man's sins
- The sea calls certain people to come away
- A lover swims beneath green branches to meet her
- Two men who love one woman share a night at sea
- Fate and the sea shape every tale
Who’s who
- Morag CampbellA fair, wild-hearted daughter of Gorromalt, devoted to her sister Muireall and bound by an old family story.
- Anne GillespieA brave young woman of Eilanmore who swears oaths to marry the fisherman she loves.
- Mànus MacCodrumA sweet-voiced fisherman of North Uist, from a clan called the offspring of the Seals.
- Gloom AchannaThe clever, cold Achanna brother who plays the feadan and wants what others hold dear.
- Neil RossA hungry, weary traveler who carries old wrongs to Iona and agrees to eat a dead man's sins.
- Sheen MacarthurAn old, poor woman of Mull who shelters Neil Ross with tender kindness.
- Katreen MacarthurA proud Skye girl who loves James Achanna and scorns her cousin Ian.
- Isla MacleodA poet and fisherman with no home, who loves Silis, Sheumas's wife.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Tragische Romanzen in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Tragische Romanzen
by Fiona Macleod · 1898
In the Hebrides, a stranger eats a dead man's sins, and the sea begins to call for him.
Easy read5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
What would you do if a stranger offered you silver to eat a dead man's sins? Each story is short, wild and musical.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Highland family hears of a daughter's ruin
The first tale, Morag of the Glen, is set in Strathglas, a wet, lonely valley in Argyll. A young cousin tells it. She lives at Teenabrae with her aunt Elspeth, her stern uncle Archibald Campbell, called Gorromalt, and his daughters Muireall and Morag. The family already faces a new English landlord, Lord Greycourt, who wants higher rent and a deer park.
On a Sunday in August, the minister Allan Stewart walks up to the house with bad news. Muireall has been ruined by Jasper Morgan, the landlord's son, and lies dying at an inn in Kilbrennan. Morag slips away with a note from her sister, written in Gaelic, which points to an old family story.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Tragische Romanzen
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Tragic Romances about?
It is a collection of seven tales set in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Each tells of love, rivalry or longing, and of a fate shaped by the sea, the dead, seals, curses and old Gaelic custom.
What is a sin-eater in this book?
In the tale of that name, a sin-eater is a stranger paid to eat bread and drink salted water laid on a corpse. By custom, he takes the dead person's sins upon himself.
What does the Dàn-nan-Ròn mean?
It is Gaelic for the Song of the Seal. In the story of Mànus MacCodrum, it is a haunting flute tune linked to the belief that seals are men under a spell.
The author
Fiona Macleod
1855–1905 · Scottish poet and novelist
Fiona Macleod was the pen name of William Sharp, a Scottish writer born in Paisley in 1855. He lived in London and died in Sicily in 1905. From 1894, he published novels, short stories and poetry as Fiona Macleod. His books under this name included Tragic Romances.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
