''The Cutting Room'' is the debut novel of Scottish author

Louise Welsh Louise Welsh (born 1 February 1965 in London) is an English-born author of short stories and psychological thrillers, resident in Glasgow, Scotland. She has also written three plays, an opera, edited volumes of prose and poetry, and contributed ...

. The book was first published in 2002 by

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

-based publisher

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. It began ...

. It has won several awards including the 2002 Saltire Society First Book Award. In 2022, Welsh published a sequel novel, ''The Second Cut'', which takes place two decades after the events of ''The Cutting Room''.

Plot summary

The novel, set in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, revolves around the central character, Rilke, an auctioneer who has agreed to quickly process and sell an inventory of largely valuable contents belonging to a recently deceased old man in exchange for a considerable fee. While sorting through some of the possessions in an attic, he comes across a collection of violent and potentially snuff pornography that appears to document the death of a mysterious young woman. Starting with local pornography trade contacts, Rilke sets out to discover this woman's identity and uncover the story behind her appearance in the disturbing photographs.

Critical reception

The novel received a highly positive reception from critics. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described it as a "gleefully black, knowing first novel", also noting that it "effortlessly glides rom a detective novelinto literary fiction". For ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', the novel presented a "hugely commendable debut, assured and memorable" and "a genuinely creepy, grisly little tale". ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' described The Cutting Room as: "one of the most intriguing, assured and unputdownable debuts to come out of Scotland in recent years". '' The List'' was particularly impressed by Welsh's portrayal of Glasgow: "...the city becomes a character in its own right; Gothic, dismal, decaying and frightening in equal measure". The novel won several awards, including the Saltire Society First Book Award 2002, the Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger Award 2002 and the

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Underground Award 2003.

Adaptations

The novel was adapted for the stage a year after publication, the world premiere taking place in the

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and is based in Glasgow, Scotland as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various s ...

in Glasgow in October 2003. Plans to produce a film version of the novel were at an advanced stage in 2004. The film was set to star Robert Carlyle as Rilke with a screenplay from

Andrea Gibb Andrea Gibb is a Scottish screenwriter and actress. Early life and education Andrea Gibb was born in Greenock, Scotland. She studied drama and sociology at Glasgow University and then did a post-graduate teaching degree at Manchester Polytechn ...

, and was due to be filmed on location in the West End of Glasgow, but the project failed to materialise. Carlyle did, however, contribute to an audiobook version of the novel in 2006.

References

External links

Louise Welsh and The Cutting Room, Canongate website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutting Room 2002 British novels Scottish novels Novels by Louise Welsh Novels set in Glasgow Canongate Books books 2002 debut novels