The Outrun by Amy Liptrot review – brutal yet poignant account of life on the edge

Amy Liptrot never imagined she would be back in the remote Orkney islands off the coast of Scotland where she grew up, at the age of 30. Pressing pause on her life, she had returned to her father’s farm, immersing herself in the wild coastline and unpredictable weather along with memories of the chaotic existence she had left behind in London. Throughout her 20s, she lost jobs, flatshares and a boyfriend she loved because of her drinking. Eventually she got help through a recovery programme and, in her newfound sobriety, sought to rebuild herself by connecting with the physical world.

The Outrun – a film adaptation of which is in cinemas, starring Saoirse Ronan – blends memoir and nature writing as it offers a poignant and often brutal account of addiction. The “outrun” of the title is the name of a strip of land between the farm and the cliffs, too rough and weatherbeaten to cultivate, but is also an apt description of Liptrot’s efforts to escape herself.

We follow the author as she helps with the lambing on the farm, watches the northern lights from an old theatre, spends a summer on the island of Papa Westray searching for corncrakes, an elusive species of bird, and dances around the standing stones at Stenness. The voice actor Tracy Wiles is the narrator, capturing the poetic lyricism and dark humour in Liptrot’s writing. Whether stumbling around London in a haze of drunkenness or rediscovering the windswept landscape of her youth, hers is a life lived on the edge.

Further listening

Until Proven Innocent
Nicola Williams , Penguin Audio , 9 hr 18 min
Ayesha Antoine reads this tense courtroom thriller about a teenage boy who is shot in south London and the Black female barrister assigned to work on the case.

Demon Copperhead
Barbara Kingsolver , Faber , 21 hr 3 min
This Women’s prize-winning reimagining of Dickens’ David Copperfield is set in the midst of the American opioid crisis. Charlie Thurston narrates.