It isn’t too much of a stretch to call AL Kennedy one of Scotland’s most acclaimed living novelists. In fact probably only Ali Smith could keep her off the top spot, not that literary excellence is a competition. For the record, though, she has been twice selected for the once-a-decade survey of the UK’s best young writers compiled by prestigious literary journal Granta. She also has a Booker nomination to her name and a Costa Book Award win, for her World War Two-set 2007 novel, Day.