The '45 Rising: The Diary of Euphemia Grant, Scotland, 1745-1746

My Story: Girls

by Frances Mary Hendry

'45 Rising; The Diary of Euphemia Grant, Scotland 1745-1746 is the diary of Euphemia Grant, set in Scotland during the Jacobite rising of 1745. The "My Story" series feature historical diaries written by fictional characters, set in real periods of history.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Scotland, Childrens, Diary, 18th Century, Historical

195 pages, Paperback

First published November 16, 2001

About the author

Frances Mary Hendry is a British writer of children's historical fiction. Born and educated in Glasgow, Scotland she now resides in Nairn, where many of her books are set.

Reviews

[Josie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Re-read in February 2012: I think one of the problems with this book is the historical setting. There's such a lot of backstory to the Jacobite uprising that it's hard to understand what's going on if you don't already know what happened. And it's made harder by the the major historical figures having several monikers (e.g. Charles Stuart is referred to as Prince Charles, the Young Pretender, and Bonnie Prince Charlie). There's a lot of "I asked Alan to explain it and he said..." to try and get round that, but it's just too much information. I gave up trying to follow what was going on with all the switching of loyalties.

The other problem with this book is Euphemia. She's only interested in shopping for new gowns and going to parties. Which, okay, maybe I could like a shallow character if they had a redeeming feature? Or gained more depth with time? But no. She doesn't change. And she keeps wittering on about Alan. I lost count of how many times she ended an entry with, "Oh, my sweet Alan!"

The ending was kind of hilarious. "Alan and I were married, yippee! And then he was shot and died in my arms." Then there's a random entry from 35 years later, to update the reader on the result of the rebellion and what happened in Euphemia's life (as if anyone cared...). And yes, you guessed it -- the book ends with the words, "Alan, my sweet Alan." Gah!

[August · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one much more than a lot of the other My Story books I've read simply because it was different. It was so refreshing to have a main character who wasn't doom and gloom all the time, so caught up by the bad things happening around her that she was unable to enjoy herself and have fun, as teenagers will do even in the worst of times. I didn't know a lot about the historical context, and that part of the story was sometimes difficult to follow, but I found Euphemia to be an interesting, unique character who (unlike a lot of other main characters in this series) actually had a personality that shone through in the diary entries.

Personally, I think people probably dislike this one because (shocker!) the protagonist is actually acting like a teenager.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read quite a lot of the My Story books and this is one that I wasn't over enthused about. Such a history and build up of the war was missed and we were basically dropped into middle and end of the war and it was a scramble to figure out anything really. Even though I always read the historical notes and time lines first it was still a "sink or swim" situation. I did find the characters entertaining and around the half way mark I really started to enjoy what I was reading as through my own research things made more sense.

[Susanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really a children's book and not especially good. I read it because after reading Outlander I wanted to find out more about the rising and this book was in the school library where I volunteer.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In addition to Phemie being vain and very free with her affections, there is also a lot of nonconsensual behavior in the story. The ending threw me off and I got confused at the sudden turn it took.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the less good ones, sadly. Interesting historically because I knew nothing of the Jacobite rising of 1745, but that lack of knowledge was actually a hindrance because this book seemed to rather jump right into the middle of things. The others I've read in the My Story series have all been much better at explaining what's going on - this one, I had to flick to the section at the end after about 20 pages because I was all, WTF? It just wasn't as clearly explained who was who and why they were fighting for which side.

I didn't care terribly much for Euphemia, either. Also, surprising for a kids' book how she got herself knocked up! And there were a couple of none too subtle mentions to her going off to shag her fiance. Who then died on their wedding day, more or less at the hands of his love-rival. WHOA! That was a sucky twist!

[Molly]

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.

[Anna]

I think that this book gave a good image of what was happening back then.