Marie Macpherson
Goodreads Author
Born
in Edinburgh, The United Kingdom
Website
Twitter
Genre
Influences
Leo Tolstoy, Walter Scott, Dorothy Dunnett, Muriel Spark
...more
Member Since
April 2012
URL
https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscommarie_macpherson
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Marie’s Recent Updates
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Marie Macpherson
voted for
How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women
as
Readers' Favorite History & Biography
in the
Opening Round
of the
2025 Goodreads Choice Awards.
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Marie Macpherson
rated a book it was amazing
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This review is by Tom Murray Creative Writer in Residence for Tyne & Esk Writers: On reading Marie Macpherson's excellent novel two words sprang to mind-- page turner. I was gripped from the first page by this fast moving, endlessly fascinating story ...more |
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"Brilliant! Just brilliant.. what a strong finish to an amazing John Knox trilogy. I like that the novel takes you between the lines of history and gives you an idea of what might've happened behind the veil of the historical events in the 16th centur"
Read more of this review »
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“That marks on paper could be transformed into words seemed a kind of magical process, a kind of alchemy – not least because most of my earliest reading material was fairy stories and legends.”
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“Having an economy of spirit is a poor gift to share with those who toil in your name.
Cant remember who said this!”
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Cant remember who said this!”
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Topics Mentioning This Author
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historical Fictio...: Historical Romance of Mary Queen of Scotts? | 11 | 60 | Nov 24, 2015 02:07PM | |
| Historical Fictio...: Lesser-known writers | 32 | 319 | Apr 09, 2018 09:19AM | |
| New Books Network: Historical Fiction | 88 | 35 | Aug 09, 2019 10:38AM | |
| Around the World ...: Scotland | 70 | 914 | Mar 08, 2025 07:21PM | |
| Crazy Challenge C...: 2017 Randomizer Challenge | 264 | 299 | Nov 15, 2025 03:52PM |
“For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.”
― Four Quartets
And next year's words await another voice.”
― Four Quartets
“Stories to read are delitabill (delightful)
Suppose that they be nocht but fable (fiction)
Then should stories that suthfast were (truthful)
- And they were said in good manner -
Have double pleasure in hearing.
The first pleasance is the carping (reading aloud)
And the tothir the suthfastness
That shows the thing richt as it was;”
―
Suppose that they be nocht but fable (fiction)
Then should stories that suthfast were (truthful)
- And they were said in good manner -
Have double pleasure in hearing.
The first pleasance is the carping (reading aloud)
And the tothir the suthfastness
That shows the thing richt as it was;”
―
“Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.”
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“I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for? So that it will make us happy, as you write? Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if we had to. But we need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. That is my belief.”
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Comments (showing 1-9)
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Thanks for accepting the friendship, Lucinda. I must have misread - I thought you did review e-books! My publisher usually sends out hard copies to reviewers who have a blog or other outlet!Best wishes,
Yours
Marie
Dear Marie,Thank you so much for the friendship request here on Goodreads! I do love reading historical fiction, and so i am most interested in your novel. That is so kind of you to offer me an e-copy of your book to read, but i do tend to usually only read paperbacks or hardbacks (as i don't have an e-reader like a Kindle).
Kind Regards
Lucinda x
Hi Elaine, Thanks for the friendship. Small world!Did you watch the wee documentary I made? You'll recognise some of the places!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Blast-T...
All the best with your writing career.
Marie x
Hi Marie! Thanks for the friend request. I see you're writing about Knox. I went to high school at Knox Academy :) Lots of history in this little place, so glad to see it getting some use. x
Thanks for becoming a friend, Cathie.Please have a look at the mini-documentary showing Scottish scenes - several historic sites and one ancient sight!
Marie
Hi Marie,Thanks for the friend request. Lovely to discover another local author.
I'm looking forward to discovering your novels.
Cathie
That's one reason why I extended the hand of friendship, Murdo.And thanks for accepting my invite.
All the best,
Marie
Thank you for the invite to become a friend. I always enjoy hearing from writers, especially Scottish ones.Murdo Morrison












































