REVIEWS
After the black gold rush
It’s obvious why the oil and gas industry hasn’t inspired much great art over the years, JR and his thrillingly treacherous Ewings aside. But drill down deep enough into pretty much any subject and you’ll strike drama, romance and narrative. That’s precisely what Richard T Kelly has done for his magnificent new novel.
The Black Eden is the story of how Scotland first struck oil in the late 20th century and of the black gold rush that followed. It is an adventure of personal and corporate fortunes being made, of lives transformed for better and worse, of a nation’s politics revolutionised, and of ancient, pastoral communities that suddenly found themselves tossed in a whirlwind of capitalist modernity.
As all good novelists must, Kelly tells the story through people. Aaron and Robbie are childhood friends in a heavily religious 1950s coastal village. They are destined for careers that do not yet exist – Aaron will be a geologist working for tough who, as nationalist sentiment soars with the oil price, is radicalised and becomes an SNP MP, while his cocksure schoolmate Ally gets filthy rich after setting up a boutique Edinburgh investment firm. Joe fights to transform his father’s ailing fishing fleet into one that services the booming new industry.
