In Another Light was the fifth novel by Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 writer Andrew Greig

Andrew Greig

Andrew Greig is a Scottish writer. He grew up in Anstruther, Fife. He studied philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and is a former Glasgow University Writing Fellow and Scottish Arts Council Scottish/Canadian Exchange Fellow...

. It won the 2004 Saltire Society

Saltire Society

The Saltire Society was established in 1936 to encourage everything that might improve the quality of life in Scotland and restore the country to its proper place as a creative force in European civilisation....

 Scottish Book of the Year Award, and was nominated in 2006 for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is an international literary award for a work of fiction, jointly sponsored by the city of Dublin, Ireland and the company IMPAC. At €100,000 it is one of the richest literary prizes in the world...

.

Plot summary

The novel alternates between present-day Orkney and the 1930s in dying days of the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 in Penang

Penang

Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...

, British Malaya

British Malaya

British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...

 South East Asia.

After a near-fatal illness, Edward Mackay decides to find out more about his late father's mysterious past. Dr Alexander Mackay's secret is gradually revealed by his son's findings. On the sea voyage to the East, the young doctor meets an eclectic crowd including the Simpson sisters, who are of unattainable social class, "both beautiful, one a gazelle". The doctor is gradually accepted into Penang society, and makes regular visits to the sisters, one of whom is married. Following a mysterious accident and a secret holiday in the Sumatra

Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

n highlands, he leaves the island under a cloud of scandal.

Edward's investigations in the modern day are assisted by a trail of clues including a Buddha figurine

Buddharupa

Buddharūpa is the Sanskrit and Pali term used in Buddhism for statues or models of the Buddha.-Commonalities:...

 and a double-one domino, and by an old lady, a blonde woman he bumps into in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and an Orkney woman called Mica.