Nan Shepherd (1893-1981) was an important and respected figure in Scottish Modernism, producing three novels which present the conflict between tradition and modernity in the North-East.

But she is best known today for her masterpiece of mountain literature The Living Mountain. Elusive and enigmatic in person despite her literary significance and renown, she spent all her long life in Deeside.

This overdue biography of Shepherd has been written with full access to the archives and to all her remaining friends and acquaintances.