The Lothian Run

by Mollie Hunter

Ex-Library with usual markings, protective cover. Minor wear to book edge not frayed.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Scotland, Childrens, Juvenile

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Maureen Mollie Hunter McIlwraith writes 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."

Reviews

[Lissa Notreallywolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Scotland just following a Jacoban revolt, Alexander is a young legal apprentice, chafting at deskwork and the confinement of the Edinburgh office. His career choice undergoes a radical refocus when Deryck Gilmore enters the offices, seeking to investigate smuggling crimes as he is a Royal Customs investigator. Wishart, Sandy's employer is kind to the restless youth who undergoes quite the series of adventures, abduction, a near shooting, reckless horse rides and a battle in a cove featuring caves. My only disappointment was that very little of the action took place in vessels or on the open sea, but for all of that, it was a thrilling read. Gilmore is a very dashing romantic figure, dedicated to his form of justice. There were only two places I had questions about the plausibility of the plot. One being why more people did not recognize Sandy at the Ball venue, given that he seems to have circulated broadly before becoming a target of assassination. The other stretch in my credulity was his wholesale endorcement of customs law, when the fisher people he knew since birth would be caught in the net he helped build to catch the smugglers. He knows the oyster diggers are involved in smuggling, they provide his mother's tea. How is he going to feel when his folks are jailed for wanting more than oystering can provide? But for all of that it is an excellent young adult novel, albeit having little place for females.

[Ceridwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great adventure and historical detail. A clear view of Scotland's past.

[scarlettraces · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5). Workmanlike rendering of the pre-45 rebellion years with Customs officers as the force for good. I don't have a problem with how the participants on each side of the duty evasion debate are sketched in (the smugglers are locals and show a commendable collective loyalty when captured, the Customs investigator is a good public servant determined to do his duty) but it's a shame our young hero doesn't reflect a bit more on the shades of grey inherent in his new profession.