The House with the Green Shutters

(Paperback, Reissue)

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Description

The brutish John Gourlay is a merchant in the village of Barbie, envied and resented by the villagers because of his success, which is symbolised in his prestigious house with green shutters. He dominates and bullies his family, in particular his gifted, sensitive but weak son.

Ultimately, his refusal to acknowledge the arrival of the railway and to adapt to the increasing industrialisation of Ayrshire precipitates murder, suicide and his family's tragic downfall

Author Bio

George Douglas Brown was born in 1869 in Ayrshire. The illegitimate son of a local farmer, he was raised by his mother. He gained a bursary to the University of Glasgow and later a scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford. After his mother's death, Brown moved to London and began a career in journalism. He contributed to a variety of journals and, in the autumn of 1900, began writingThe House With the Green Shutters, which was favourably received and compared to Balzac and Stevenson. Aged only 33, he died of pneumonia in 1902.