There’s always something deeply satisfying about reading a page-turner, especially if it’s by an author whom you know, like and respect. To The Dogs is Welsh’s tenth novel. I have read eight of her previous, dating back to her 2002 debut, The Cutting Room. The majority are set in Glasgow, Welsh’s hometown. She has a wonderful ability to capture the essence of the city, its daily rhythms and the dialogue of its citizens. Welsh is unflinching in her grittiness, and it is only right to acknowledge the violent and criminal elements that exist in Glasgow and form an inevitable backdrop to her works. To The Dogs sees a large part of its action set on the campus of the city’s university, an appropriate backdrop, since Welsh teaches Creative Writing there. Beyond illegal activities (drugs and bribery primarily), the novel provides a forum for Welsh to explore university life. Apart from the main action, readers find themselves considering questions that might conceivably feature in a university lecture on applied ethics. Welsh asks about morality, particularly in the context of standards. Is it right, for example, to accept a donation from a corrupt state, but wrong not to accept an offer from a local contractor looking to extract a favour? The primacy of family values and first principles is another important issue explored in this work but framed uncomfortably alongside how universities should best seek to fund themselves and what principles they should adhere to (and teach). Welsh does not do navel gazing, however, and the action reaches a compelling climax. I did not see the reveal coming and the ‘one year later’ section served as an appropriate coda to this great novel.
By Louise Welsh