Scottish Book of the Week: The Weather Weaver
About 18 months ago, I started a new project: reading my way around Scotland through children’s books. All of them set in Scotland, many but not all of them written by Scottish authors. The idea was that I would review one book on the blog each week. Well, the best laid plans and all that… I got six weeks in before life got in the way. I’ve continued reading plenty books since, I just struggled to find the time to write them up. So, this is attempt number two, to regularly share reviews of the books I’ve read.
First up is The Weather Weaver, by Tamsin Mori, a contemporary fantasy story featuring a girl who befriends a young storm cloud. In case you didn’t know, I’m obsessed with the weather – my shortlisted story for the Kelpies Prize for Writing 2026 is about a little gust of wind – so this book sounded right up my street to read next. I really loved it, and felt it was the perfect choice for bringing my review series back to life.
Book Details
Title: The Weather Weaver
Author: Tamsin Mori
Genre: Fantasy
Recommended reading age: 8+
Trigger warning: Reference to death of a grandparent
Scottish Setting
The Shetland mainland looked like a little limpet. A small grey hump hunched low in the sea. As the boat drew gradually closer, the cliffs loomed taller. Seagulls whirled and swooped down the sheer rock face like stunt pilots. On the skerries, close to the shore, dozens of seals were sunning themselves like fat black sausages. (Chapter 1)
The book is set on Shetland. The story references the ferry approaching Shetland mainland, the journey continues in a small boat presumably to one of the smaller islands but it’s not specified which one.
Plot Summary
Eleven year old Stella has come to spend the Summer with her widowed grandpa on a small island in Shetland, while her parents are on a work related research trip. But it’s nothing like the Shetland she remembers – her grandpa is grieving for Gran, the island feels bleak and claustrophobic. Then Stella meets an old woman named Tamar, who can spin rainbows and conjure up hurricanes, and Stella finds herself bonded to a feisty young cloud named Nimbus who helps her learn the art of weather weaving. But it’s not all fun and games, when a dangerous sea witch starts to close in and Stella realises that with magic powers come big responsibilities.
As they rounded the hill, Tamar turned down the slope towards an ancient croft house. It nestled low into a fold of the hillside and looked out over the bay. The stone walls had moss growing in all the cracks, making it all but invisible against the scrub of heather behind. The thatched roof was covered with a loose net of ropes, with rocks strung on the end, presumably to keep the roof on when the gales came in from the sea…It just looked cosy. (Chapter 6)
Conclusion
Having visited Shetland myself, even though the story is not specific about the location, I could still picture the surroundings. The main focus of the story is the weather – and the magic, of course – and weather does shape life on the islands a lot. As someone who really loves spending time outdoors is most kinds of weather, I really enjoyed reading this story. There are two other books in the series.
The Weather Weaver is available from uk.bookshop.org (Affiliate Link) or you can order it from your favourite indie bookshop.
