Meet Bobby: Born ‘n bred Lewis girl. Millennial. Teuchtar. And self-confessed “cheery depressive”.

She’s sorted…sort of. With her own place, a steady income, and a tiny pool of trusted friends, she leads a blissfully uneventful life. At almost 40 and working as a petrol station attendant in Stornoway, she’s hardly broadened her horizons since leaving her home in a buttoned-up village just ten miles away. 

She gets more pleasure from her favoured Marian Keyes books than she does from reality. She sometimes daydreams of a fuller life; one that’s not confined to the pages of her paperbacks. However, she fears that any deviation from her strict routine and rituals could potentially derail her delicate mental health, and that is simply a risk she is not willing to take. Not after last time. Or the time before that. She’s had too many close calls.

What will become of her though, when despite her care and diligence, life throws curveballs she simply can’t avoid? Will Bobby find the strength to overcome heartbreak? Is there a tiny possibility that she could prove herself wrong; maybe even rise and thrive from the ashes of despair? Or is she destined to forever remain “empty”?

M.A. Ross comes from Inverness in the Scottish Highlands and has strong family connections to the Western Isles. Empty is her debut novel and the idea of the story came during a bout of insomnia during the summer of 2024. She lives in Glasgow with her husband and their very grumpy but adored cat.