George Mackay Brown (1921 - 1996) was a very prolific writer from Stromness in the Orkney Islands who wrote poetry, novels and short stories, plays and essays, and the autobiography For The Islands I Sing which was written late in life but he didn't want it published until after his death. He suffered from tuberculosis for most of his life. The memoir is primarily focussed on his development throughout his life as a reader and writer, and his observations and recollections are haunting and mythical. A Time To Keep is his second short story collection, all set in Orkney, and reflective of traditional life there. The characters are crofters and fishermen, the stories magical, drawn from ancient wisdom mixed with modern life as it was in the 1960s. The writing is plain but evocative, these are masterpieces of the art of short story writing.