jessicagreig's review
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
stephencampbll's review
4.0
Rarely if ever have I been so uninterested in the social commentary (the sheer cruelty of the Clearances and the blistering anger at the sins of the Kirk) when compared with my fascination and affection for the central character. Usually the opposite is true and the only value I place in characters is in their role as vassals for a political purpose.
But Mrs. Scott is a rare protagonist. First of all she’s an old woman (a rare enough thing in itself); secondly, she’s uneducated; thirdly, she’s one of the most compulsively sympathetic literary characters I’ve ever come across. She’s a simple woman, insular and unworldly, and yet the impressively restrained narrative voice never feels condescending. Even where Mrs. Scott displays ignorant, intolerant views (mainly towards the villages’ resident atheist) it never for a moment masks Crichton Smith’s genuine affection for his protagonist. It’s a story told with a beautiful, poetic simplicity and a thoroughly wonderful book.
But Mrs. Scott is a rare protagonist. First of all she’s an old woman (a rare enough thing in itself); secondly, she’s uneducated; thirdly, she’s one of the most compulsively sympathetic literary characters I’ve ever come across. She’s a simple woman, insular and unworldly, and yet the impressively restrained narrative voice never feels condescending. Even where Mrs. Scott displays ignorant, intolerant views (mainly towards the villages’ resident atheist) it never for a moment masks Crichton Smith’s genuine affection for his protagonist. It’s a story told with a beautiful, poetic simplicity and a thoroughly wonderful book.
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