22. Morvern Callar by Alan Warner

Life is dreary and depressing in the small seaside Scottish town Morvern Callar lives in. A produce stock person at a large supermarket, Morvern’s boyfriend kills himself shortly before Christmas. Readers know they are in for the unexpected when instead of grieving, Morvern leaves his body and goes out raving and clubbing. When she comes home days later, she hides his body in the attic and opens the sky lights to hide the smell. Using her boyfriend’s money and passing off his unpublished novel as her own, she sends the novel to London to be published. An advance from the firm enables her to escapes to the Mediterranean where she hits the rave scene and drinks and drugs her newfound money away.

Written with lots of Scottish slang, it is sometimes difficult for people to follow, but readers get the general picture at all times about Morvern. Even though she does horrible things (like chopping up her boyfriend’s dead body and hiding it on weekend camping trips in the Scottish countryside), Warner portrays Morvern as a strong and very human character. Readers who liked this novel should check out fellow Scottish writers Irvine Welsh and Louise Welsh. Director Lynne Ramsay also created a film version of Warner’s book.