
CATCH THE MOMENTS AS THEY FLY is a vividly realised portrait of class, love, and womanhood in mid-twentieth century Scotland, told in Strachan's subtle and delicate prose. A radiant example of historical fiction. Spanning the 1930s to the 1960s, CATCH THE MOMENTS AS THEY FLY is a vividly realised portrait of class, ambition and womanhood in a rapidly changing Scotland. Told in Strachan's subtle and delicate prose, it tells the story of Rena—ambitious, attractive, and determined to see her family escape their shameful past. A new town offers a chance at the respectability and independence she craves, but is it enough? When she marries Bobby Young—charming, cosmopolitan and haunted by his own memories - doors begin to open for the couple. Together, they could make their mark on the world—or lose everything they have. Pre- and post-war Scotland are brought to life in this radiant example of historical fiction "Woven through CATCH THE MOMENTS AS THEY FLY is an almost Fitzgerald-like awareness of the subtle corruptions and compromises that haunt our dreams of 'self-improvement' and social aspiration. Glasgow and Kilmarnock are much more than mere backdrops to the delicate web of human voices and fates in the their own civic destinies, spanning two world wars and decades of aftermath, play a powerful and evocative part in this wonderfully vivid and moving portrait of the past."—Wayne Price, author of Mercy Seat "CATCH THE MOMENTS AS THEY FLY is, simultaneously, an engrossing and affecting love story, a family saga, and a deft portrait of Scottish urban life in the wake of two world wars. Subtle, layered, and full of captivating historical detail as well as vividly drawn characters, this is a novel to get lost in. Absolutely compelling."—Jane McKie, author of Carnation Lily Lily Rose Fiction.
Author
Zoë Strachan was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, in 1975. She is the author of three novels: Ever Fallen in Love, Spin Cycle and Negative Space. Ever Fallen in Love was shortlisted for the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards and the Green Carnation Prize and nominated for the London Book Awards. Negative Space won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Saltire First Book of the Year Award. In 2003 The Independent on Sunday listed her in their top twenty novelists under 30, and the Scottish Review of Books selected her as one of their new generation of five young Scottish authors in 2011. Her short stories and essays have been included in numerous journals and anthologies, she contributes journalism to various newspapers and magazines and her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and Radio 3. She has been UNESCO City of Literature writer-in-residence at the National Museum of Scotland, a Hermann Kesten Stipendiaten, a Hawthornden Fellow, a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellow and in 2011 she undertook a British Council visiting fellowship at the International Writing Program of the University of Iowa. Recent works for theatre are Panic Patterns (with Louise Welsh, Citizen's Theatre and BBC Radio Scotland) and Old Girls (which opened the 2009/10 season of A Play, a Pie and a Pint at Oran Mor in Glasgow). Her short opera Sublimation (with composer Nick Fells) toured Scotland in May 2010 with Scottish Opera before going to Cape Town, South Africa in November 2010. The Lady from the Sea, a full-length opera composed by Craig Armstrong and based on the play by Ibsen, premieres at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2012.