Clear
by Carys Davies
Award History
| Award | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSL Ondaatje Prize | 2025 | Winner |
| Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction | 2025 | Shortlist |
| Betty Trask Award | 2025 | Shortlist |
| RSL Ondaatje Prize | 2024 | Shortlist |
| Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction | 2024 | Shortlist |
| RSL Ondaatje Prize | 2023 | Shortlist |
About This Book
Carys Davies's second novel is set during the Highland Clearances of the early nineteenth century on a remote Scottish island, where a Presbyterian minister named John Ferguson is sent to evict its sole remaining inhabitant, an old man who speaks no English. As the two men communicate across a language barrier, the novel becomes a meditation on cruelty, pity, and the terrible logic of empire. It won the RSL Ondaatje Prize in 2025.
About the Author
Carys Davies is a Welsh short story writer and novelist, born in Wales. She studied at Oxford and has lived in the United States and England. Her short story collections The Redemption of Galen Pike (2014) and Some New Ambush (2007) have won numerous prizes, including the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and the Royal Society of Literature's V.S. Read more →
