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| (Penguin, 2007) |
Anne Farquharson
was a Highland woman who fought to free her land from the harsh rule of the
English. She knew she couldn’t live in their world, which King George was
slowly enforcing onto her country. The English stifled their women and cared
nothing for traditions. Anne did not want to become a meek and submissive
woman. She did not want to have no say in how her clan was run. Neither did she
want to lose her culture. So when Bonnie Prince Charlie sails from France to reclaim
the Scottish throne, there was no hesitation for Anne. She rose up with him.
That was
not the case for her husband, Aeneas. Their marriage was a fiery one, built on
passion. There seemed to be no room for love, for when Anne gathered her clan,
he joined the Black Watch. They argued. They fought. And through many misunderstandings,
Anne went back to her first love, Alexander MacGillivray. But Aeneas did love
her. Still, they ended up on opposite sides of the field in a battle between
the Jacobites and the English, sometimes at the end of the other’s pistol.
The book
was an entertaining read for the first part. It was a bit of a romp in the hay
at times, but the sex didn’t really bother me. Looking at other reviews of this
book, this seemed to be a problem for some people. Maybe it was gratuitous, who
am I to say, but Anne was young. That’s what young people do. They have crazy
libido. In any case, there was a bit of political intrigue there, too. There were
the English antagonists, betting on how long it would take to stop the
rebellion, being surprised when it wasn’t so easy, and being damn brutal. Which
brings me to the second part.
The
second part of the book, more towards the end really, was very depressing
(Culloden – if you are even a little familiar with Scottish history I’m
guessing you know what that battle meant). Janet Paisely mentions the word genocide in the afterword, and this
really seems to be the case here. It was a little gruesome. It was very
frustrating. I wished I could somehow get Connor from Assassin’s Creed III to
come out and deal with the redcoats. But I couldn’t, so I just kept reading. The
end didn’t completely satisfy me.
Despite
that, I did like the book. It was engrossing. I enjoyed the characters, even if
they were a little bit cliché. They had personality, which doesn’t make sense
after what I just said but trust me it does. MacGillivray was probably my
favorite. I’m not sure how much of the history was true and how much was made
up, but I did learn something. I hadn’t really been familiar with Scottish
history in the 18th century or the clan system either.
I wish I
knew how to pronounce the Gaelic words tossed around and at least there is a
translation that goes along with it on the page or in the back of the book.
There was a bit of French thrown around too, which for people who don’t understand
might make them scratch their head, but it’s not a lot and easy to guess the
gist if you don’t understand.
My
rating: 4/5
For
another great book set in Scotland, but in an earlier time period, check out Jules
Watson’s Dalriada trilogy. I highly recommend this series.
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