In the early hours of New Year's morning, 1919, in a raging storm, the lolaire, bringing troops back from WW 1, sank on its entry to Stornoway Harbour, Isle of Lewis. Most on board perished. The island community was devastated and, in addition to its high loss of men in WW1, lost a further 200 men in its sinking, The wreck is still in Stornoway Harbour. The Dark Ship is about a poet who went to war; his lovers; his friends who stayed behind, and his friends who fought beside him. The novel spans three generations and two world wars, to the present day, and celebrates love, music and poetry in this carefully interwoven story that reflects the complex past and community of a Scottish island.