Sandsone Press Logo

​John McPake and the Sea Beggars

Stuart Campbell

​John McPake and the Sea Beggars by Stuart Campbell

In the 16th century Low Countries the hunters in the snow are looking for more than small game. War has swept the land and Spanish mercenaries have stolen the son of Johannes, a weaver. Loath to let him search alone, fellow weavers Balthasar and Cornelius have joined him on the trail. Breughel’s famous painting has come alive.

Five centuries later John McPake lives in a hostel, sharing his head with a Tempter, an Academic, a Bastard, and a friendly narrator who will not let him speak. With friends from the hostel, John searches for his long lost brother.

The hunters fight their way to the coast to fall in with the notorious pirates, the Sea Beggars, while John and his outcast friends scour modern Edinburgh.

There’s a battle going on in John McPake’s head that will find its resolution somewhere between the Siege of Leydon and a dark corner of a railway station in Edinburgh.

RRP: £8.99
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781908737694
Publication Date: 19/06/2014
Download Information Sheet

Formats Available:
E-book

Stuart Campbell
Stuart Campbell has worked as an English teacher, Advisor, Communications Lecturer, Education Manager and Consultant in the Lothians for longer than he cares to remember. He is now gainfully employed...

Reviews

‘A dark, comical story of seeming no-hopers which moves seamlessly between modern day Edinburgh and 16th Century Holland and opens up the world of those who struggle through life labelled as mentally ill to comic and touching effect.’

Jo Brand

‘A truly remarkable book.’

Undiscovered Scotland

‘A gripping and original read that also manages to address the extreme impact that personality disorders can have.’

The Scottish Field

‘The central thread of the story always holds firm. We never lose sight of his humanity, or his need for dignity and self-determination.’

The Herald