The tales one is told as a child are often just stories, figments of a parent’s imagination to entertain their child, or to lull them off to sleep. The tales Maggie was told as a child were not of princesses, or knights, but of feuds and raids, of Scotland in a time long passed. So when her father announces to her that these tales were more than just stories, that they were his life story, memories from his past, she has no reason to believe he could be telling the truth. How could he have grown up over four hundred and fifty years ago? Time travel was just a thing of stories, there had been no scientific breakthroughs or the whole world would know about it. More than likely, his sudden desire to go ‘home’ was just a ruse to keep her away from Dylan, the friend he assumed had more than friendly intentions for her.
So she compromises – she will go with him to Scotland, but so will Dylan. She doesn’t assume he could be telling the truth. A road trip with her father, Dylan and Eddie, the man she had grown up loving as an uncle, leads to more than a holiday in a new area, but a journey to a new, or rather old, time.
Thrown into a world where she knows next to nothing about the ways of life, and where the viewpoint of the world is at a different state to what she is used to, Maggie finds herself both lost and found at the same time. Here, she is unfamiliar with the daily routine, the clothes are strange and the food could definitely be better, but she grew up with no family but her father, and now she has hoards of uncles, aunts and cousins surrounding her. Maggie is an exceptionally strong and resourceful woman, who is constantly at war with herself, the ideals from the twentieth century and the sixteenth century clashing in her mind.
Maggie is not a flawless character, but she is a person who has grown up in the late twentieth century, who is used to central heating, a comfortable bed and the security of feeling safe. Being used to such things, it is understandable that she struggles to adapt, that she does not accept the way of life, for there are things that she sees as sorely wrong and she tries to fight such things. However, what is wrong in the twentieth century is often regarded as normal on the Scottish border in 1538, and vice versa. While Maggie sees no issue with a man and woman laying together, even if they have no plans to marry, those who surround her strongly oppose this view, and Maggie can’t understand why her cousins accept that they are being told who to marry, even if their hearts lie elsewhere.
A good novel is never complete without a scoundrel and a gentleman, even if both of these men are Borderers who raid other clans and take what they want. There is conflict for Maggie, as to which of the two men, the charming Ian Rutherford or sweet-talking William Foster, she wishes to marry and which she wants dead. Ian is a convenient match, as a Scot and of a neighbouring clan, Maggie’s uncle arranges their union, as it would bring a union between the clans and would be of benefit. However, Maggie isn’t sure that she wants this, for as much as she likes Ian, she can’t get the image of Will out of her head. The problem is that Will is an Englishman from across the border and no member of her family with the influence to make such a match happen seems to be willing to condone such a union, should she be given the opportunity to voice her opinions. Daughters were to listen and obey, to be wed by the command of their father’s and laird’s, and Maggie’s twentieth century views that a woman should be able to follow her own mind and heart mean nothing to her newfound family.
This novel is written from several viewpoints, so the reader automatically knows who to like and who to hate, but Maggie has no such insight and while she tries to figure out who to trust, one can do nothing but hope that she will choose the right people, the right man.
The Scottish dialect used in this book means that it can be slightly overwhelming at first, for there are some words that can be confusing without context, but you quickly slip into the story and the dialect helps to immerse you in the story. While Maggie’s father’s accent stands out at the start of the book, when he is in Scotland once again, the accent envelops the reader, as if inviting them into a cosy home to get out of the rain and offering them some broth to warm up, sitting down with idle chitchat and making them feel so welcome they don’t want to leave.
With a setting penned so beautifully and the conflict of Maggie portrayed in such a way that it is clear that the author has a very clear understanding about the workings of the human mind, this book is a tale that shows you the dangers of the Scottish border in the sixteenth century, yet still makes you want to be there to experience the lifestyle, the friendships and the thrill yourself. I would happily sit down and read the entire book again, as if I too were stepping back in time for a while and living in a time long gone.
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Andrea Matthews
Andrea Matthews is the pseudonym for Inez Foster, a historian and librarian who loves to read and write and search around for her roots, genealogical speaking. In fact, it was while doing some genealogical research that she stumbled across the history of the Border reivers. The idea for her first novel came to mind almost at once, gradually growing into the Thunder on the Moor series. And the rest, as they say, is history…
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You reviews are always so wonderfully written.
ReplyDeleteThanks for such a wonderful review. I'm so happy you enjoyed the book and enjoyed your visit to the sixteenth century Borders.
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