Courting Favour

by Nigel Tranter

When John Cospatrick is unexpectedly elevated to become the King's lieutenant in the unruly north of Scotland, he must use his sharp wit and skills of diplomacy with the feuding Highland clans. But he faces his greatest test when he is sent to England to forge a formal treaty of peace.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

330 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

Nigel Tranter OBE was a Scottish historian and writer. He was the author of a wide range of books on Scottish castles, particularly on themes of architecture and history. He also specialised in deeply researched historical novels that cover centuries of Scottish history.

Reviews

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is about John of Moray. I had a bit of a hard time reading this book and couldn't really understand why. Then I read one of the other reviews on here which said it was more like a series of events than a story, and that is something I would have to agree with. Although it is about a character, for me it felt like it was more about the series of events that he was involved in.

I am also not familiar with Scotland or all of the families so I did find myself looking up where these places are, rather than just enjoying the story. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had that knowledge. I also hadn't read others in the series so maybe that might have given me a better background.

It appears to be well researched so that is a benefit of the book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This continues the saga of the Cospatrick family moving north to Morayshire when John Cospatrick of Dunbar was bequeathed the earldom to him by his step-mother, Black Agnes of Dunbar. She goes with him on initial trip north to introduce him to the Moray folk, evaluate the problems with other nobles and clansmen infringing on territory due to Moray's lack of an acting earl. He soon proved himself a effective ruler of Moray dealing with feuding clansmen and forming and alliance with Donald of the Isles, and the Earls of Sutherland and Caithness after Alexander "The Wolf" Stewart went on a rampage burning Elgin Cathedral as well as most of the town of Elgin. He also took part in the battle of Otterburn and was envoy to Richard II and John of Gaunt trying to broker a more permanent peace between the two kingdoms

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book just moves along describing a noble Scot's life-interesting yet relatively light and then at end out of nowhere it's like you punched in the stomach. I like surprise endings.

[Kelly Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was an interesting book, I did find it hard to read with all the places. It reads a bit more like a series of events more than a novel.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

# 20 chronologically. What a great storyteller.