Publication Date 05 12 20
Life, Death and Time Travel on the Glasgow Subway...
After selfish student Daisy makes a scene at her stepdad’s funeral, she drunkenly falls asleep on the Glasgow subway and wakes to find she has travelled back in time. And to make matters worse, she's in someone else's body.
To make amends for her behaviour, she must save a life—but she doesn’t know who, how, or where to begin. She’ll have to find out fast if she wants to make it back to her old life and avoid being trapped in the wrong timeline forever.
"Life isnae a fulm. It’s barely even a story. Thur’s nae such hing as gid guys and bad guys, thur’s jist… guys. Cause sometimes folk dae nice hings, really lovely hings, and then a minute later they dae horrible, break yer heart hings. But that widnae be easy tae digest over ninety minutes while ye munch yer popcorn and sook yer Tango Ice Blast.
So we pretend thur’s gid guys and bad guys and sort folk intae wan category or the other. We don’t like tae believe thur’s a giant chasm in the middle whaur everybody really sits."
Five Star Review
As I trawled through Amazon for time travel books I came across this and despite it being Young Adult ( and I am anything but that ) I thought I would try it. And I am so glad I did. It was absolutely fantastic and I read it in twenty four hours. Such a powerful raw book.
I fell totally in love with Daisy despite her awful antics and bad behaviour. I have seldom read such a credible character. I recognized so many aspects of her in friends and perhaps sometimes myself when young. I guess it is wrong for me to say I wanted to slap her but oh well I have written it now.
This is a dark gritty portrayal of a young woman fraying at the edges. It pulls no punches and makes no excuses but it is also deeply hilarious. I found myself reading passages to my daughter who thought it was funny too and ended up buying it.
The prose itself is sublime - Just fantastic to see Scots dialect used in such an accomplished manner. It gave the characters such an authentic edge and made them so relatable. And even funnier. And sadder.
The story itself centres around Daisy time travelling back to help someone and this aspect was just brilliant. Layer after layer of characterisation and twisty plot turns. I thought it wonderful how the author created such a magical feeling amongst such despair. An incredible piece of story writing and excellent plotting. Difficult. timely themes written sensitively without judgement. I think every young woman should read it.
At times I cried, at times I laughed and at times my heart broke. I wanted to rescue her, wanted to bring her home and help her. She was on complete self destruct. But despite the sharp edges in the narrative Daisy on The Outer Line's overwhelming message is that of love and kindness.
About the Author
Ross Sayers is a writer of contemporary Scottish fiction for young adults. His debut novel, 'Mary's the Name', released in 2017, was shortlisted for the Saltire First Book of the Year Award. His second novel, 'Sonny and Me', was released in 2019, and his third, 'Daisy on the Outer Line', was out November 2020. His new book The Everliving Memory of John Valentine released this year. You can tweet him @Sayers33 or see more of his writing at www.rosssayers.co.uk
