On Wednesday 11^th September seven members of the Advanced Higher English class took a trip to St Andrews University to listen to a talk by the author Lisa Ballantyne about her debut novel ‘The Guilty One’. We had been given free copies of the book earlier in the year by the University as part of their book club scheme and had been told to read them over the summer holidays.

Mrs Shields commented:

“This is an excellent opportunity for the Advanced Higher English pupils to get a real insight into studying at a University like St Andrews.”

Once at St Andrews University we were ushered in to one of the main lecture halls along with students from about five other schools. The head of the English department of St Andrews gave a talk and then Lisa Ballantyne was introduced.

She told us a bit about her life and what led her to story writing. We learned that she was born in Armadale and went on to study English at St Andrews; she had spent most of her twenties in China and could speak Mandarin and it had taken her 12 long months to write ‘The Guilty One’. 

Advanced Higher English student Jessica Milford said:

“It was really interesting to know about what inspires an author, and to learn about her different approach to writing. I also found learning about her life interesting.”

After this Lisa quizzed us all on aspects of her talk. We did have the chance to win a few prizes, like the signed American edition of her book, but unfortunately none of us could answer quickly enough. We then stopped for an hour long lunch break where we were able to terrorise the streets of St Andrews town, looking for a bite to eat before we returned to the university.

Once we returned we took part in a question and answer exploration of ‘The Guilty One’ and its themes with a fourth year English Student. Through this we established that most of the characters in the book are guilty of something, whether they be crimes of love, or crimes of murder.  

Jessica continued:

“The discussion gave us better insight in to the book and characters. I’m really glad we got the opportunity to take part in the event. ”