Fair Helen

by Andrew Greig

Elderly narrator Harry Langton looks back on the adventures and friends of his youth, transporting the reader to the Scottish Borderlands at the end of the 16th century... The much younger Langton returns to his birthplace to aid an old friend, the brash Adam Fleming, who has fallen for legendary beauty Helen of Annandale. He has also, it seems, fallen foul of a rival for her hand, Robert Bell, a man as violent as he is influential. Fleming confesses to Langton that he fears for his life.In a land where minor lairds vie for power and blood feuds are settled by the sword, Fleming faces a battle to win Helen's hand. By virtue of being the lovers' confidant, Langton is thrust into the middle of this dangerous triangle, and discovers Helen is not so chaste as she is fair. But Langton has his own secrets to keep--and other powers to serve. Someone has noticed Langton's connections to the major players in the Border disputes, and has recruited him in their bid to control the hierarchy of the Border families--someone who would use the lovers as pawns in a game of war. Packed with swordplay, intricate politics, and star-crossed lovers whose actions could change the course of history, Fair Helen is a sumptuous, rousing adventure novel that brings to life one of English poetry's most intriguing heroines.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Scotland, Fiction, Historical, Retellings, Literary Fiction, Romance

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 22, 2013

About the author

Andrew Greig is a Scottish writer who grew up in Anstruther, Fife. He studied philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and is a former Glasgow University Writing Fellow and Scottish Arts Council Scottish/Canadian Exchange Fellow. He lives in Orkney and Edinburgh and is married to author Lesley Glaister.

Reviews

[David Santiuste · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully realised historical novel, written with a poet’s feeling for language, inspired by the Border ballad Fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea. The author has immersed himself in Border lore – both the ballad tradition and the real history behind it – and this is a splendid evocation of the ‘end days’ of the Riding Times. Andrew Greig’s ‘reimagining’ of the famous ballad is set on the Scottish side of the Border, with occasional forays into ‘Embra’ and further afield, during the last years of the sixteenth century. The book’s central characters are two young lovers, Helen Irvine and Adam Fleming, whose families have been ‘long at feud’. But as the story of this Scottish Romeo and Juliet moves inevitably (yet always elegantly) towards its tragic conclusion, we also become aware of other forces at work in the Borders…

In Harry Langton, a cousin of Fair Helen and close friend of Adam, Greig provides us with a compelling narrator. Ostensibly writing forty years on from the events he describes, Harry has never fully recovered, and this gives the novel a moving sense of pathos. But Harry also engages the reader’s interest because he is a complex character (and perhaps not entirely trustworthy), and there are some wonderful flashes of humour too. Moreover, whilst he is wryly dismissive of the songs of the Border, seeking to release his loved ones from ‘the unyielding stone of ballad’, it is also significant that Harry is a man caught between different and conflicting worlds; this successfully conveys a sense of ambivalence, yet also nostalgia, towards a lost way of life.

Overall then, this is an intriguing, exciting and absorbing novel. Andrew Greig has maintained his usual high standards, and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable tale of love, intrigue and feud set in the late 16th century Scottish Borders, a notoriously lawless time and place. The (fictional)story is inspired by a well-known Border Ballad, "Fair Helen of Kirkconnel" and is told from the perspective of a friend of one the lady's two rival suitors, writing 40 or 50 years after the events took place. The standard of writing is well above that of most historical novels, and the author keeps the tension racked up as the protagonists struggle to make their way in a world of political scheming, shifting alliances and casual violence. Much of the spoken dialogue in the novel is in Scots dialect, but the book contains a glossary to help those unfamiliar with the vocabulary. Recommended.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

SPOILERS(ISH)!!!





I wish I were where Helen lies!
Night and day on me she cries;
O that I were where Helen lies,
On fair Kirconnell Lee!

Curst be the heart, that thought the thought,
And curst the hand, that fired the shot,
When in my arms burd Helen dropt,
And died to succour me!

O think na ye my heart was sair,
When my love dropt down and spak nae mair!
There did she swoon wi' meikle care,
On fair Kirconnell Lee.

*******

I wish my grave were growing green,
A winding sheet drawn ower my een,
And I in Helen's arms lying,
On fair Kirconnell Lee.

I wish I were where Helen lies!
Night and day on me she cries;
And I am weary of the skies,
For her sake that died for me.


I just had to include some excerpts from the ballad Greig's "Fair Helen" is based on - "Fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea" to show how moving, passionate and stirring a ballad it is. And here, taken from Wikipedia is one explanation of the story behind the ballad:

"In the burial ground of Kirkconnell, near the Border, is the grave of Helen Irving, recognised by tradition as Fair Helen of Kirkconnell, and who is supposed to have lived in the sixteenth century. It is also the grave of her lover, Adam Fleming – a name that once predominated the district. Helen, according to the narration of Pennant (Pennant’s Tour in Scotland, 1772), “was beloved by two gentlemen at the same time. The one vowed to sacrifice the successful rival to his resentment, and watched an opportunity while the happy pair were sitting on the banks of the Kirtle, that washes these grounds. Helen perceived the desperate lover on the opposite side, and fondly thinking to save her favourite, interposed; and, receiving the wound intended for her beloved, fell and expired in his arms. He instantly revenged her death; then fled into Spain, and served for some time against the Infidels: on his return, he visited the grave of his unfortunate mistress, stretched himself on it, and expiring on the spot, was interred by her side. A cross and a sword are engraven on the tombstone, with 'HIC JACET ADAMUS FLEMING'; the only memorial of this unhappy gentleman, except an ancient ballad which records the tragical event."

How utterly romantic! (It's for a good reason that Adam and Helen are often referred to as "the Scottish Romeo and Juliet).

"Fair Helen" doesn't exactly follow the same plot line as the information above outlines, but it is an exceptionally well written, beautiful tale of love, rivalry and conspiracy set against the backdrop of the Scottish borders in the late 16th century. Adam and Helen's families have been feuding for a long time so the couple embark on a secret affair with Helen's cousin and Adam's best friend Harry looking out for them. Harry tells us their story 40 years after it has happened, and he's a really interesting and often entertaining narrator. Harry doesn't ever seem to have fully recovered from the death of his friends and you get the feeling that his writing their story down is a means of catharsis for him.

Much of the dialogue in this story is in traditional Scots dialect but there's a helpful glossary to help readers make sense of it!

Highly, highly recommended read!


PS: This website explains the story and has some lovely pictures of the church and graveyard where Adam and Helen were said to have met: http://www.gravestonepix.com/contents...

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, but didn't quite come together at a book/story level the way it shone at a word/sentence/paragraph/vignette level -- like pearls strung at a slightly oddly spaced distances.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author has immersed himself in his subject... beautifully written, a little hard to read, but the accomplishment of the author's pen is worthy of so much praise. If you love Scottish lore and poetry. If you love the feel of the romantic scottish poets... Then this is a tremendous read. But beware... the glossary becomes your best friend if you're not a scholar in archaic Scots. Best read in paper form, because of it.

[Artemiz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Andrew Greig's Fair Helen has got his inspiration from ancient ballad about Helen Irving, a young woman, who lived in sixteenth century. The story is "written" by Helen's cousin Harry Langton - blacksmith's son, scribe, translator and fugitive.

Harry who has sent to live with his aunt after the death of his parents, has grown up with Helen. They are like siblings, but Helen is also Harry's best friend. Harry has another dear friend, Adam Fleming, with whom he met in university.

When Adam invites Harry to visit him, since he is sure, his stepfather wants to kill him, Harry must ask permission to leave his work fro a while. He gets his time of from office, but he will not get time of work. Harry is sent to observe the clans at the Borderlands and report back everything he sees or hears about their doings, relationships and intrigues.

Harry is listening Adam's theories, why he thinks somebody wants him dead, about his feelings about Helen and Adam's bodyguard teaches Harry to defend himself. Together the men go to a raid across the border. Harry himself gets almost killed, while he was leaving his old flame. And Harry is accompanying Adam on his secret meetings with Helen.

Things get even more complicated when old feuding families - Flemings and Irvings - are befriended again and the Irvings announce the engagement of Helen and Robert Bell. After the "joyful" event Bell's bodyguard charges Adam's dog and bodyguard and Adam's bodyguard ends up in prison after killing the attacker.

Harry must report everything he sees or hears to his master, even if by not doing so he could save his friend, but he is that afraid of his master, that he tells him even the things that where trusted to him as secrets.

On the faithful day, when Harry is forbidden to follow Adam, he finally figures out what kind of game is being played and what part he has in this game. Especially after his old flame comes to warn him, Harry hurries after Adam and Helen, but is still to late. All that's left for him is witness.

So this old man, who has lost his fingers, and who spent a long time in underground dungeon before he was let to escape, was living a long time away from Scotland, but the events, that made him run, have always been with him just as fresh as the day that they happened. He does not want to die before he has shared his story with the world.

So this is the story, that has got its inspiration from the old ballad and unhappy love story. But it was really difficult to read. As the storyteller is an "old man", his story jumps here and there, sometimes into past sometimes into yesterday and at times it's difficult to understand, whether this chapter was about yesterday lunch or feast of long past. But at the same time it was interesting with the old Scottish language and all. There is a dictionary for the old Scottish at the end of the book, but if you read from a e-reader like I did, it is difficult to use.

There was a moment when I thought that maybe another old story has got it's inspiration from Adam's, Helen's and Harry's story. A story about mad prince, about his mother who married her husbands brother after they poisoned him and about this mad prince's mad pride, but it might have been my imagination, that Harry "confessed" his unbelievable adventures to this particular bard. :)

It was a good story, but it was difficult to read.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea is beloved by two men, sons of rival families in the restless Scottish Borders of the late 16th century – the Debatable Lands. The young Jamie Saxt (James VI of Scotland, not yet James I of England) is now ruling in his own right, but the powerful families of the Borders each run their own fiefdom, with feuds being the order of the day. The interminable unrest between Scotland and England rumbles on, at this period mainly taking the form of reiving – raids to steal cattle – and occasionally the feuding families will come together to fight their common enemy, the English. Helen’s cousin, Harry Langton, our narrator, is an old man now, but he was young in the days of Fair Helen – young, and in love with one of the rivals for Helen’s hand…

The story is based on a traditional Border ballad, and Greig gives us the ballad in full at the beginning of the book. I found this an odd choice, since it means we know how the story will end. Perhaps he assumed his readers would already know the ballad, but this reader didn’t and would have preferred to have been left in the dark. However, there’s plenty of other stuff to make it an interesting read.

Adam Fleming is the man that Helen loves, but her family is determined she will marry Rob Bell. The Bell family are on the up, while the Flemings are out of favour. But Harry, we soon discover, is not just a lawyer’s scribe, but a spy for the most powerful of the Border lords, Sir Walter Scott (not that one!) of Branxholme and Buccleuch. Buccleuch wants Harry to entice the Flemings to pledge allegiance to him, and this would immediately raise them back to prominence. Adam is open to this, but his mother is violently against the idea, and therefore so is her new husband, who has usurped Adam’s place as head of the family.

At first, I found all these feuds and rivalries quite difficult to sort out, but as the book progresses it all becomes clearer. Old Harry is writing many years later when Jamie Saxt has united the crowns of the two nations, meaning that for the first time in centuries there is peace in the Border lands, and only one ruler to whom all the lords, north and south, must give fealty. Looking back, Harry talks of those dark days of feuds, and tells us stories of some of the raids over the border. We hear of the brutality and cruelty of the lords against their enemies, whether English or rival Scots.

Harry also tells us of the new Reformed Church with its hellfire-and-damnation preaching. He remembers his mother, dying in terror...

Soundless for days she lay, but towards the end a ceaseless moan rose from the very core of her, as though her bones were humming the song of pain. The terrors planted by the Reformist sermons of her childhood sprouted in her mind, then ran wild. She feared Damnation for her sins –– I caught something of a bairn unborn, another conceived too young, perhaps by another than my father. She came to believe her present agony would last through all Eternity....I sat beside her hating those men that had implanted such terrors. I have never forgiven them, nor see reason to.

He shows how many of the old families paid outward lip service to the new religion while still covertly worshipping in the old Catholic or Episcopalian traditions, often having ceremonies, like marriages, carried out twice, once in each tradition. Harry himself is an atheist, although he wouldn’t use that term – his attitudes nod forward to the Enlightenment rather than back to the Reformation. But he is entirely of his time – Greig avoids any hint of anachronism in all of the characterisation, and, while the issue of Harry being gay isn’t a major aspect of the story, it allows him to show what society’s attitudes to it were at that time, both in hellfire Scotland and in somewhat more liberal parts of Europe.

As always with Greig, there is a fascination with the history of story-telling in Scotland – the makars, scribes and poets. He shows the patronage system that allowed writers to live, though not richly and only by dint of offering complete loyalty to their patron’s family. Harry has found a comfortable place to spend his final years, working on poetic translations of Lucretius. Greig is a poet himself, and this shows in his wonderful use of language. There’s not a huge amount of dialect in this one, but he sprinkles it with some lovely archaic Scots words and expressions. There is a glossary, though usually the meaning is perfectly clear from the context.

In truth, the story of Helen and her lovers feels almost incidental. Harry himself muses that all the ballad tells us of her is that she is fair, and we don’t learn a great deal more about her in the novel. This is really Harry’s story, and the story of those final Border struggles, and the story of how balladry played a role in our national myth-making. Fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea was one of the ballads collected by the later Sir Walter Scott, a distant kinsman to the Buccleuch of this story, and his work added much to the mythic history that underpins Scottish identity. Greig is of the same tradition, using story to illuminate history, and he does it excellently. Fair Helen’s importance, poor lass, lay never in who she was, but in what she shows us about the world she so briefly inhabited.

She was born plain Helen, daughter of Will Irvine of Bonshaw. She would die Fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea. Her whole life extended twenty-one years wide by some five miles long, all it takes to get from Bonshaw to Kirkconnel.

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[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book. I was a it anxious at the start that it would be a sad and miserable tale, the ballad after all begins the book but it was so much more than a simple, tragic love story. A Borderer at heart but now living in the Highlands it managed to make me homesick despite the wildness of the Borderlands at the end of the 16th century. Other reviewers have remarked on the archaic Scots dialect but I don't think many modern Borderers would have use of the glossary.
It was a difficult time in Scottish history( when wasn't?). Andrew Greig's skill is in describing the massive changes in Scottish society ,such as the new Protestant religion and the expected Union of the Crowns as they would have been understood by ordinary people of the day. A book that makes one want to learn more of our turbulent history and read more by this author.

[Bryn]

I did not get very far before it had to go back to the library (ILL, alas, so difficult to get again quickly) but I found the meta-narrative interesting -- usually when a work of historical fiction has a frame story, the frame does not do much for me, but in this case it is clear that the older narrator has a very different take on things than his young self. So I really do want to read it, I wish it was not so hard to find.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only read 20% of this book and had to put it down. It went nowhere and the language was a barrier to understanding what was going on. Very disappointing.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really cracking tale but …. it's a tale told by a 16th century character with modern ideas and language often awkwardly present at times. (Did they really say things like ‘I’m only here for the bevy’ in those days?) A smattering of Border Scots words are included to set the scene but, for me, they simply impeded understanding or sat uncomfortably beside other words in a sentence (‘Everything was connected and siccar.’) - it’s as if compulsion to use them was more important than conveying point or narrative. There is a glossary but it involves a lot of stopping and searching to find out what a character or a sentence meant (the meaning of words in the margin would be MUCH better). And then there are also those issues of the author’s thoughts or experience overriding a character and what I call ‘lumps of research’ being all too apparent with the shoe-horning of history, facts and/or descriptions of actual places into the narrative in an ill-fitting way.

This is also a story involving a very complex web of families and different titles and at times difficult to follow; a list of characters would have been helpful. (And did the person who drew the map only skim read the book? I kept looking to it for help only to find places didn’t appear on it.)

I really wanted to be involved with this story and I love being immersed in a tale or the setting but I found the things above constantly pulled me away from that. It could have been so much better.

Finally, for fun - do you collect bad analogies  ? Here’s a few. ‘He seemed cool as a well-run pantry.’ ‘The fat kye [cattle] were clumped like juicy fruit awaiting picking.’ He was content to fatten and grow like a wasp’s nest under some high corner.’

[Ellen Forkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book. It's thick with beautiful descriptions and fantastic Scottish language and dialect. The book's inspiration and characters come from the Scottish ballad Fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea and follows the life of a witness and key player of the tragic romance. Despite this, I didn't find the book maudlin or depressive, which I was a touch worried about. It's set in medieval Scotland - with 'James Sax' (James VI) and the 'Auld Hag' (Elizabeth I) - a period I love but know very little about from a Scottish point of view. I enjoyed the book's interesting characters, rich settings and chaotic politics of a bloody, hectic era in the Borders.

5 stars for the language alone. (It even has a dictionary at the back.) A few of my favourite words were 'stushie', 'glisk', 'wabbit' and after the character had ridden a horse for too long: 'arse-nibbit'!

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another I meant to re-read ere this - the paperback - and just as rich and enthralling a second time.

Without doubt one of the best books I've read this year. As Andrew Greig has to be one of the finest poetic novelists I've ever read.
Set in Scotland's 1590's but with characters as alive as today and with so many, many phrases that made me catch my breath at the sheer joy of them.
There is tension and drama and love and language - wonderful indeed. A book to be re-read soon.

And fans of Dorothy Dunnett or Emma Darwin should certainly seek this one out, as a starting point.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greig takes the medieval Scottish folk ballad as his inspiration and weaves a fictionalised account of Fair Helen. Told from the point of view of Helen's cousin Harry, we learn the tale of the doomed lovers said to be the Scottish Romeo & Juliet. The Scots language used throughout took some getting used to and the glossary didn't explain all but the story was easy enough to understand and become involved with. Enjoyed this more than I thought I would.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully detailed time-travel; I almost didn't need the nicely-controlled thriller plot, as the world evoked was so plausible, so complete. The rich language throughout is practically a character in itself, wise and poetic and witty. A real treat of a novel.

[Commander Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. I didn't really engage with the characters. An interesting idea, but I wonder that the background could have been further explored to provide context.

[Jasmyn]

DNF - dialog was too much for me.

[jrendocrine at least reading is good · Rating 1 out of 5]

never got interested in it.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helen of Kirkconnel ist eine Ballade von Sir Walter Scott. Sie beruht auf Ereignissen aus dem 16. Jahrhundert. Auf dem Friedhof von Kirkconnel in den schottischen Borders liegt das Grab von Helen Irving und Adam Fleming, dem Mann der sie liebte. Andrew Greig packt die Ballade in eine Geschichte über Liebe, Verrat und Freundschaft.

Harry Langton erzählt die Geschichte seines Freundes, Adam Fleming, der sich unsterblich in Helen Irving verliebte. Im Gegensatz zu Adam sieht Harry aber das wahre Gesicht von Helen und kann über den Zusatz "Fair" in ihrem Namen nur die Augen verdrehen. Weit bin ich noch nicht gekommen, aber ich habe schon den Eindruck gewonnen, als ob Harry keine gute Rolle in der Geschichte spielt. Die Art, wie er erzählt, klingt traurig und ich bin gespannt, was er angestellt hat, umso traurig zu sein.

Andrew Greig schreibt in sehr altem Scots, so kenne ich seine Bücher nicht. Normalerweise schreibt er sehr direkt und ohne Schnörkel. Diese Erzählweise passt aber sehr gut zu der alten Geschichte.

Harry sitzt wirklich zwischen allen Stühlen. Helen ist seine Freundin aus Kindertagen, die auf einmal erwachsen geworden ist und ihm jetzt alle Liebesangelegenheiten anvertraut. Die Freundin vermisst er, die neue Frau kann er nicht so richtig leiden. Dazu ist sie ihm zu oberflächlich (recht hat er!). Auf der anderen Seite ist sie sich aber auch durchaus bewußt, dass sie heiraten muss, weil sie die letzte ihrer Familie ist. Eine "Karriere" als Nonne kommt von daher nicht in Frage.

Adam hat es auch nicht leicht. Sein Leben scheint ständig in Gefahr zu sein, weil die Borders in dieser Zeit alles andere als friedlich waren und er mittendrin steckt. Auch Harrys Leben ist nicht mehr so sicher, nachdem er einem kleinen Adligen über den Weg gelaufen ist, der "erst zwanzig Jahre ist und schon dreissig Morde begangen hat." Ausgerechnet der kennt seinen Namen!

Es ist wirklich keine schöne Zeit, in der Harry und Helen leben. Harry und Helen??? Das hat mich dann doch überrascht. Ich hatte eher den Eindruck, dass er Adam lieben würde. So kann man sich irren. Helen ist für eine Frau ihrer Zeit erstaunlich selbstbewußt und modern eingestellt. Aber ihr ist auch klar, dass sie sich dem Willen ihres Vaters nicht widersetzen kann.

Harry wirkt auf mich eher schwach. Er trifft Entscheidunden, die sein Leben leicht machen. Zumindest denkt er das, denn in den Krieg zu ziehen oder einen Mann zu erstechen, stand wohl nicht auf seiner Liste. Er beobachtet mehr, als dass er wirklich aktiv wird.

Ab ungefähr der Hälfte des Buchs habe ich komplett umdenken müssen. Helen war kein Biest und Harry nicht in Adam verliebt. Ansonsten lag ich mit meiner Einschätzung aber nicht schlecht. Die Borders im 16. Jahrhundert waren keine schöne Gegend. Jeder kleine Landbesitzer hat gehofft, dass er derjenige sein würde, der die Borders verwalten darf. Um das Ziel zu erreichen, war jedes Mittel recht. Da konnte es schon mal vorkommen, dass es auf einer Versöhnungsfeier Mord und Totschlag gab.



Harry, Helen und Adam haben versucht, ihrem Schicksal zu entfliehen. Die Ballade zeigt, dass sie es nicht geschafft haben. Was Andrew Greig daraus gemacht hat, hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Das Ende hat mich überrascht, aber auch gefreut.

[Giki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our narrator is poor scholar, Herny Langdon, who is called to the wild border country in 1590 to help a friend in need. Adam Fleming was his closest friend and is now in fear of his life. Adam has fallen in love with Helen, a renowned beauty, but he is not the only one seeking her affections.

This is a wild and dangerous land, there are bandits and raiding parties, divided loyalties and a lot of border politics. It is an atmospheric and passionate historical read. The language – a potent anglo-scots mixture, which should not cause too much of a problem for a careful reader or anyone who has spent time in Scotland (there is a glossary if required) – adds colour and depth to this dark and twisting tale.

If I have criticisms to make it would be that the narrator often does not give us enough information to enable us to easily follow the story. He is vague on a few important points which whilst most are later explained left me re-reading the pages to see if I had missed something. There were a few burning questions that were left unanswered though – I would have like to see these ends tied up Like who was Helen's dad? did I miss something?. For a tale of star-crossed lovers this book does lack a romantic heart. There is passion enough of course, but I was never really sure whether Helen and Adam were in love or it was just a rebellious crush. An the narrators own unrequited love was just a few comments here and there leaving us to fill the blanks.

[Dawn Marie Howell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel caught me by surprise in the best possible way. I was wandering the aisles of my local bookstore (a rarity these days), and this one just struck me as something I had to get. I had never heard of the author, nor did I even know what the subject matter was. The blurb on the front said something about "antlers and claymores", which piqued my interest.

Let me just say, if you are a lover of historical fiction, especially the kind centered around the Renaissance, this will be exactly your kind of book. It is period perfect, with modern intrigue and characterization. The prose is beautiful, and though he uses colloquialisms from the era and place, there is a handy glossary at the back to help with most misunderstandings (with a few exceptions).

Overall, the story is nothing new: star-crossed love; feuding families; coming of age drama. But the whole thing is set in the heart of the Borderlands of Elizabethan Scotland, a time and place I don't normally read about since much of the attention lies with those pesky Tudors (which I am cool with, but it was nice to see another side). Well worth the read for any lover of this time period, and there are nods aplenty to a certain famous Englishman whom I shall not mention here. Read it for yourself and savor it.

[Bo'ness Library Bookgroup · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not often the whole group agrees but we did about this book, it was excellent. we all thought the cover and blurb was a bit offputting, but once you started reading, you were hooked.
The use of Scots words and phrases was nicely handled, with enough to give the book character and flavour but not so much as to be intrusive and have us running to the glossary every two minutes.
A great plot, not as fixated on the doomed love story as you would think but more about the Reivers and the end of an era. it is a melancholy book but also a rollicking tale with one particular raid having the reader on the edge of their seat wondering what will happen.

[Kirsten Fleetwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm from a completely different part of Scotland and I'm not at all familiar with the Borders, but this book fairly brought them to life in a way that makes me think the author knows and loves them very much.
The huge cast and endless intrigue made this spy novel centred on the doomed love of a young couple in 16th Scotland quite confusing, but its beauty and passion and humour made it a really good read. Harry, the narrator, is slippery as an eel, a spy and bit player, which makes him the perfect person to tell this tale.
Highly recommended, albeit those readers unfamiliar with Scots may well struggle with the language.

[Helen Ashforth-Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very atmospheric book set in the late 16th century in the Scottish borders. It captures wonderfully the choas and war like nature of the families that ruled this part of Scotland. Greig uses the poem of Fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea to add to his story but also clearly borrows from Shakespeare Hamlet. The only downside of this book is that there is a lot of characters and sometimes it is hard to recall who is who.

[Isabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love, scheming, Scotland - all the components were there but the old English (Scottish?) made reading it a bit of a push! There was a glossary at the back but reading it with a kindle made it tricky to flip back and forth. I told my dad (who highly recommended it to me) that I enjoyed the love story bits of it but the clan politics not as much and he said that he felt the opposite.

[Diana Latimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice change from Scottish highland lore

Only the second book from Andrew Creig that I have read but it was very interesting. Lots of compelling characters and history to keep the story alive. The Scottish words take a bit of getting used to but it is not hard to intuit their meaning from the context.

[aliceenjoysreading · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is beautifully written. But other than that, I did not find anything else. The author seemed so concentrated on writing it well that he forgot to make the storyline flow, to make it enjoyable. Too bad...

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fleshed out version of a border ballad - the border reivers are a period of history that I find really intriguing, so always looking to read more. A good tale of doomed lovers and intrigue, although I didn't like the narrator character.

[Rayna Polsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coincidentally this takes place in the Scottish English border, the same region the last book (Eagle of the Ninth) was set, but like 1500 years later. (120 CC / 1600 CE). Book was ok, I was confused a lot of the time but the intrigues and characters, who was whom, I dunno. Good history, uninspiring execution.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit hard to get into, due to the Scots dialect and the confusing names, but once I caught on I really enjoyed it.