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The Stronghold
Crippled in a Roman raid on his native island, Coll spends many years planning an impregnable defense but has to overcome many obstacles before he is given a chance to put it to the test.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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About the author
Mollie Hunter
42 books50 followersMaureen Mollie Hunter McIlwraith was a Scottish author. She wrote under the name Mollie Hunter. Mollie Hunter is one of the most popular and influential twentieth-century Scottish writers of fiction for children and young adults. Her work, which includes fantasy, historical fiction, and realism, has been widely praised and has won many awards and honors, such as the Carnegie Medal, the Phoenix Award, a Boston Globe - Horn Book Honor Award, and the Scottish Arts Council Award.
There has also been great interest in Hunter's views about writing fiction, and she has published two collections of essays and speeches on the subject. Hunter's portrait hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and her papers and manuscripts are preserved in the Scottish National Library.
Her books have been as popular in the United States as in the United Kingdom, and most are still in print. Critic Peter Hollindale has gone so far as to assert that Hunter "is by general consent Scotland's most distinguished modern children's writer."
There has also been great interest in Hunter's views about writing fiction, and she has published two collections of essays and speeches on the subject. Hunter's portrait hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and her papers and manuscripts are preserved in the Scottish National Library.
Her books have been as popular in the United States as in the United Kingdom, and most are still in print. Critic Peter Hollindale has gone so far as to assert that Hunter "is by general consent Scotland's most distinguished modern children's writer."
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 19, 2023
No, I am textually not all that pleased with and impressed by the 1974 Carnegie Medal winner, with Mollie Hunter's historical fiction novel The Stronghold, and indeed, that after having now completed my perusal of The Stronghold I honestly would probably only tend to recommend Hunter's story for Carnegie Medal completists and to say that for me and in my humble opinion, The Stronghold falls rather annoyingly flat as historical fiction, or more to the point, as readable and as enjoyable, as engaging and relatable historical fiction.
Sure, thematically and content wise, it most definitely looks like a lot of research has gone into The Stronghold and that Mollie Hunter manages to (at least superficially) provide an informative and detailed portrait of Orkney Islands Iron Age life and also of the many recurring dangers faced in the first century BCE (constant threats faced by the inhabitants of the Orkneys from Roman raiders, inter-tribal warfare, subterfuge and betrayal, that new defensive mechanisms against the Romans obviously needed to be found, and that the concept of creating Brochs as strongholds against those same Romans really does make sense with regard to the storyline itself as told and as imagined by Mollie Hunter in 1974, even though we now do know from archeological evidence that the Brochs of the Orkney islands are in fact considerably older than the Iron Age).
But while setting a scene and providing accurate and authentic historical details are important and necessary for any good piece of historical fiction (and that for 1974, everything textually provided by Mollie Hunter in The Stronghold feels decently accurate, and indeed, even the Brochs, as it does make sense to consider them as possible defences against the Romans), historical fiction is still first and foremost a story and is meant to be primarily entertaining and basically reading for pleasure, for enjoyment, and well, that is where The Stronghold and Mollie Hunter as an author rather majorly fail for me.
Therefore and unfortunately, that I have found both Mollie Hunter's writing style and how she presents her characters in The Stronghold distancing, lacking in depth and generally so on the surface that I really am not at all able to personally connect with even the main protagonist, even with Coll, yes, this has definitely made The Stronghold more than a bit unappealing and uninteresting to read (since for me, a connection with and feeling close to the characters of a given novel, be said novel contemporary or historical, this is always essential for reading pleasure, and sorry, but there has not really been any of that truly encountered with and in The Stronghold).
And furthermore and finally, how throughout The Stronghold, there is a huge amount of information dropping and Mollie Hunter actively and in my opinion also quite pedantically teaching her readers about the Orkneys in the first century BCE, to call this annoying and distracting is both true and also a pretty major understatement on my part (as this really did and does make me livid, as I wanted to read The Stronghold as primarily fiction and not as a history textbook). So yes and indeed, although I do find Hunter's textually authentic and realistic sense of time and place for The Stronghold delightful, there honestly is more to historical fiction than simply the latter and that the distancing writing style, the lack of nuanced characters and the penchant for Mollie Hunter in my opinion using The Stronghold as an educational tool, this has been at best a bit frustrating and enough so for me to only consider a very low two star rating, and to only recommend The Stronghold with very major reservations (and mostly as already mentioned above to and for those readers who want to consider tackling all or most of the Carnegie Medal winners).
Sure, thematically and content wise, it most definitely looks like a lot of research has gone into The Stronghold and that Mollie Hunter manages to (at least superficially) provide an informative and detailed portrait of Orkney Islands Iron Age life and also of the many recurring dangers faced in the first century BCE (constant threats faced by the inhabitants of the Orkneys from Roman raiders, inter-tribal warfare, subterfuge and betrayal, that new defensive mechanisms against the Romans obviously needed to be found, and that the concept of creating Brochs as strongholds against those same Romans really does make sense with regard to the storyline itself as told and as imagined by Mollie Hunter in 1974, even though we now do know from archeological evidence that the Brochs of the Orkney islands are in fact considerably older than the Iron Age).
But while setting a scene and providing accurate and authentic historical details are important and necessary for any good piece of historical fiction (and that for 1974, everything textually provided by Mollie Hunter in The Stronghold feels decently accurate, and indeed, even the Brochs, as it does make sense to consider them as possible defences against the Romans), historical fiction is still first and foremost a story and is meant to be primarily entertaining and basically reading for pleasure, for enjoyment, and well, that is where The Stronghold and Mollie Hunter as an author rather majorly fail for me.
Therefore and unfortunately, that I have found both Mollie Hunter's writing style and how she presents her characters in The Stronghold distancing, lacking in depth and generally so on the surface that I really am not at all able to personally connect with even the main protagonist, even with Coll, yes, this has definitely made The Stronghold more than a bit unappealing and uninteresting to read (since for me, a connection with and feeling close to the characters of a given novel, be said novel contemporary or historical, this is always essential for reading pleasure, and sorry, but there has not really been any of that truly encountered with and in The Stronghold).
And furthermore and finally, how throughout The Stronghold, there is a huge amount of information dropping and Mollie Hunter actively and in my opinion also quite pedantically teaching her readers about the Orkneys in the first century BCE, to call this annoying and distracting is both true and also a pretty major understatement on my part (as this really did and does make me livid, as I wanted to read The Stronghold as primarily fiction and not as a history textbook). So yes and indeed, although I do find Hunter's textually authentic and realistic sense of time and place for The Stronghold delightful, there honestly is more to historical fiction than simply the latter and that the distancing writing style, the lack of nuanced characters and the penchant for Mollie Hunter in my opinion using The Stronghold as an educational tool, this has been at best a bit frustrating and enough so for me to only consider a very low two star rating, and to only recommend The Stronghold with very major reservations (and mostly as already mentioned above to and for those readers who want to consider tackling all or most of the Carnegie Medal winners).
August 17, 2017
I think I won this book as a prize in upper-primary or lower-high school for something, and it would have to be one of my all-time favourites. Here I am, 30 years later reading it my teenage son, and it still takes me on such a fantastic ride.
It really is a great young adult title, told from the perspective of 18yo Coll, the adopted son of the chieftan of the Clan of the Boar. I love the descriptions of the people and the landscape, the turmoil between the clan and the Druids, and the exhilaration of watching Coll's design for the stronghold unfold.
I get lost in the story every time, and I feel like I'm right there as the events unfold. There's such a great balance of character and action, and intrigue and interpersonal relationships that it satisfies on many levels. I highly recommend it.
It really is a great young adult title, told from the perspective of 18yo Coll, the adopted son of the chieftan of the Clan of the Boar. I love the descriptions of the people and the landscape, the turmoil between the clan and the Druids, and the exhilaration of watching Coll's design for the stronghold unfold.
I get lost in the story every time, and I feel like I'm right there as the events unfold. There's such a great balance of character and action, and intrigue and interpersonal relationships that it satisfies on many levels. I highly recommend it.
August 19, 2013
We know now that brochs are far older than the Roman period (there have been some interesting archaeological digs up in the Orkneys since this book was written), but at the time it seemed reasonable that the threat to the local tribe was the Romans.
January 1, 2019
I love this book so much. I read it so many times in middle school the librarian let me keep it.
January 17, 2021
This is a pretty good adventure story in its own right. The (mostly speculative) details of the culture of the broch builders raise it up a level. On top of the "unpopular boy becomes hero" trope, we're given a matrilineal tribal culture up against an imperial one, also religious fanaticism and human sacrifice. Some children will just like the story, others will have their curiosity piqued by the details.
September 25, 2020
Definitely had some of the charm of a good 1970’s children’s historical fiction recalled library book find—but this book telegraphs every tiny detail and does not in any way wear its learning lightly.
August 6, 2017
Every year the Tribe of the Boar is attacked by Roman slave raiders, and after one such attack, Coll became Coll the cripple. Coll, enraged by being orphaned and crippled at the age of five, has been perfecting an impregnable defense tower to stop the raids for thirteen years. When Coll reaches eighteen and is ready to present his plan, he can’t; the chief will not listen. The Stronghold is an intriguing historic fiction about the Roman conquering era.
February 2, 2020
Likeable characters, a bit of history, adversity to battle through and a happy ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2016
I had a sorta knowledge of what a broch was going into this book but I love what Mollie Hunter did to create a story around their origins. If you have any connection with Scotland, I cannot recommend this one highly enough.
A few intriguing quotes:
"Because that was the way with all great ideas. They seemed simple only because they rested on principles that could be demonstrated to be true. But it took a really great mind in the first place to recognize the mere existence of such principles!"
"No, it is not courage that is needed, for a man cannot fight the wind or escape from the voices of ghosts. Surrender is the key, brother Coll. I have learned this. I have learned to let my mind drift with the wind and listen to the ghosts. I have learned to be nothing, as the wind is nothing; to step outside my body and be a grass bending in the wind, a bird soaring, a stone rooted deep in the earth. I have learned to be nothing, and everything." (This may be the best description of a good meditation session that I have ever read.)
"And we build always in the shape of a circle, because we know that a circle has no one point that is weaker than another - but indeed, a bird knows as much when it builds its nest!"
A few intriguing quotes:
"Because that was the way with all great ideas. They seemed simple only because they rested on principles that could be demonstrated to be true. But it took a really great mind in the first place to recognize the mere existence of such principles!"
"No, it is not courage that is needed, for a man cannot fight the wind or escape from the voices of ghosts. Surrender is the key, brother Coll. I have learned this. I have learned to let my mind drift with the wind and listen to the ghosts. I have learned to be nothing, as the wind is nothing; to step outside my body and be a grass bending in the wind, a bird soaring, a stone rooted deep in the earth. I have learned to be nothing, and everything." (This may be the best description of a good meditation session that I have ever read.)
"And we build always in the shape of a circle, because we know that a circle has no one point that is weaker than another - but indeed, a bird knows as much when it builds its nest!"
July 11, 2024
Shoutout to my uncle who gave me this book about 7 years ago and now I’ve finally gotten around to reading it. It was actually a very mediocre YA book. Kept me entertained for a bit but not all that memorable. Probably would have liked it more when I was ten 🤷♀️.
July 2, 2013
Not as evocative of Orkney landscape as I had hoped, but a thrilling story.
September 4, 2013
Had to read all the likely candidates for the Carnegie Award that year, and this one really did stand out.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews