Kilbackie on the Isle of Skye weaves its way in the lives of Donny, Angus and Katherine with devastating results. The island exists deep within their souls, they have been hewn out of its volcanic rock and moulded by its wind and rain. Returning from WW1 Angus seeks answers to the countless questions that fill his mind. He finds intellectual satisfaction in Sir Hugh Hollister's library at Shottenden Park where he works as a stockman. His family's subsistence living on Skye and unquestioning belief in God no longer appeals to him and he decides never to return. Donny, on the other hand, returns to Skye crippled and angry. He struggles to control his demons and becomes a fundamentalist minister bringing him in direct conflict with his daughter, Katherine and his friend Angus. Katherine and Angus' enlightened thinking causes a tragedy from which no-one recovers. Can one small child fulfil the dreams of a lost generation?

Lucy Montgomery studied French and Music at Homerton College, Cambridge and taught primary French in London and Kent. She started Ecole Alouette on the family farm in Kent when her three children were very young. Ask Not Why is her first novel. Her interests are Anglo-French medieval history, conservation and afternoon tea. She and her husband, Robert live and farm on the Isle of Skye.