Pretty Young Rebel: The Life of Flora Macdonald

by Flora Fraser

A SPECTATOR AND SCOTSMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR

'So well researched, pacily written and sympathetic to the Auld Cause that it almost makes one a Jacobite' Andrew Roberts, Spectator

'Enthralling . . . Throws us straight into the fresh air, heather, rain and midges of the Hebrides, followed by the swamps and creeks of North America . . . Full of unforgettable glimpses' The Times

The year is 1746. The Jacobite rebellion has failed catastrophically and Scotland is reeling in the devastating aftermath of the battle of Culloden. Far to the west, on an island in the Outer Hebrides, twenty-four-year-old Flora Macdonald is woken in the dead of night by a messenger with urgent intelligence.

Bonnie Prince Charlie is outside, begging for her help.

With Flora's assistance, the Stuart prince is disguised as an Irish maid and smuggled to the Isle of Skye, evading government troops. Flora's bravery and determination will see her immortalised in ballads and proclaimed a Scottish heroine. But her efforts also result in her capture and detention in London. Released the following year and returning to Skye, Flora goes on to marry and emigrate to North Carolina, only then to be caught up in the American Revolutionary War.

In Pretty Young Rebel, award-winning biographer Flora Fraser tells the remarkable story of Flora Macdonald. It is a tale of adventure and daring, wit and charm, struggle and survival, and of a woman who showed extraordinary courage in the face of great danger.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Scotland, European History, Biography Memoir

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 10, 2023

About the author

Flora Fraser Soros (born 30 October 1958) is an English writer of historical biographies.

She is the daughter of historian and historical biographer Lady Antonia Fraser and the late Sir Hugh Fraser, a British Conservative politician. Her stepfather was the playwright Harold Pinter, the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, her mother's second husband until his death in 2008. Her maternal grandparents were the late Elizabeth Longford, also an eminent biographer, and the late Lord Longford, a well-known politician, social reformer, and author.

She was named after Scottish Jacobite Flora MacDonald. Using her maiden name Flora Fraser, she has written biographies of Emma Hamilton, Caroline of Brunswick, the daughters of George III, and Pauline Bonaparte.

Reviews

[Mary C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story but not an easy read...i kept having to go back and reread sentences because i found their construction cumbersome and akward.

[Mystic Miraflores · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was especially interested in the part about Flora and her family moving to North Carolina. I have been in the areas she visited and near the area where her family had their short-lived farm. I was amused that even with her short stay, there is a college named after her and the students emulated her with their tartan dress. She was indeed a very strong woman, much stronger than Bonnie Prince Charlie himself.

[Laura Moran · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book club Secret Santa gift! This is a very well researched account of Flora Macdonald's life. I am not often a non-fiction reader, despite my best intentions, so this was an interesting change of scene.
Flora's story is intriguing, and the context for the political landscape at the time is well provided. Unfortunately, this was quite difficult to read at times due to the writing style. It felt a lot like reading a short thesis rather than a story. I struggled to keep track of some of the threads and who was who.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun to read while traveling around the Scottish highlands, including Skye!

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about the life of an amazing woman of the 18th century - born in Scotland, raised on Skye, defender of “Bonnie Prince Charles”, emigre to the North American colonies, and mother of a large family.
Flora was brave, ran her own life, gave succor to many more than the last Stewart, and put up with a tiring amount of challenges.
This is the first bio I have read by Flora Fraser. I found it very detailed and also confusing as the characters had more than one name, or were called by a number of names. Actually, I think this would be a great movie!

[Jen-Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big shout out to the audiobook for helping me through this.

[Catherine Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I skimmed a lot of this because of the amount of detail, but I couldn’t give it less than a four because of the hugely impressive annotated research. I enjoyed the story, particularly as it dovetailed with Outlander, and am pleased to have learned about such a famous Scottish character.

[Tom Axworthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flora Macdonald is one of the great heroines of Scotland and her fame has spread to an even wider audience after her inclusion in the Outlander novels and television series.Her name is forever linked with Bonnie Prince Charlie whom she helped to escape to France after his defeat at the battle of Culloden in 1746.The Stuart prince fled to the Highlands in the hope of evading the victorious English and in June 1746 he met Flora Macdonald, the young daughter of a supporter who was visiting her family in Benbecula , an island in the Outer Hebrides in the West of Scotland .Macdonald obtained a pass from her stepfather allowing her and her maid to visit the island of Skye and thus the great adventure began.Macdonald made a set of women's clothes and dressed the Prince as Betty Burke her Irish maid and the disguised Prince, Macdonald and a small party rowed to Skye.They avoided inspection by militia patrols but there were close calls as Macdonald
had to hold conversations with troops while her " maid" hid in another room.After a week the Prince was able to catch a ship leaving Skye and eventually returned to France.Macdonald was arrested and sent to London to be imprisoned for a year but her fame was almost immediate as many admired her courage and resourcefulness. It is a great romantic story and Flora Fraser does it justice .

[Kate Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first time I heard about Flora MacDonald was in high school. I was learning to play the guitar and one of the songs in my practice book was "Over the Sea to Skye." (Much later it was used as the theme song for the "Outlander" TV series.)
Flora Fraser has done a terrific job in conveying Flora MacDonald's remarkable life, both in the research and writing, as well as with images from the period and detailed maps. And all in just over 200 pages! Fraser obviously, and rightfully in my opinion, regards her subject with deep admiration. I found it very inspiring to read of this heroine's intelligence and savvy, her ability to deal with adversity, and overall her courage. She found herself in the middle of two civil wars--the Jacobite rising of 1745 in Scotland and, after her family emigrated to the American colonies, the Revolutionary War--and on the "losing side" of both. Ultimately she returns to Scotland and is buried on Skye.
Another piece of the story, elaborated particularly in the final chapter, is how she has continued to be remembered and honored long after her death, down to the present time. I haven't been this moved by a book in a long time.

[Leslie Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely detailed account of the brave Flora MacDonald who smuggled Prince Charlie away from harm facing inquiries, trials, and jailing for her efforts. Eventually cleared, she and her husband (he was bad with money and business) emigrated from Scotland to North Carolina in 1774, established a successful plantation which was all spoiled within a year because of the start of the Revolutionary War. All together, Flora and her husband (he supported the Loyalists) were apart for six years, during which time Flora returned to Scotland to live off the kindnesses of her children. Eventually she was granted pensions by various people and entities, including the government. The way her husband was kept a "prisoner" was odd because he traveled extensively around Canada and the Colonies. All of this, I believe could have been condensed into a less tedious read. And it seems like just about everyone in Scotland was named MacDonald.

[Jean Keatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this bit of Scottish history and life story of the Scotswoman who famously helped “Bonnie” Prince Charlie avoid capture after unsuccessfully fighting to retake the British throne for the Stuarts in 1745. I am a Macleod and my great grandmother is named Flora Macdonald so I have particular interest in this story of adventure in the Western isles of Scotland. It was a hard life.

[Aileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

When the first thank you in the acknowledgment section is to her majesty the Queen (for use of her archives), you know it’s likely a good work. This was too scholarly with WAY too much detail. Great story and indomitable heroine that would have read well in a different/lighter format.

[Morgan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book about Flora Macdonald, the famous Jacobite heroine who assisted Bonnie Prince Charlie with his escape from Scotland after the final failed rebellion. Great progression and insight into this remarkable woman's life. A great resource for my historical novel research. Great work on this, Flora Fraser. An enjoyable, engaging read!

[adeline Bronner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of facts here, but with a perfect tempo and thread. And in a period when it’s a lazy tune to repeat that women have been erased or hidden by History, Flora Macdonald has been a heroine in her own rights, a women of mind and heart.
It’s also a fantastic travel alongside these generations of Scots between their lost homeland and a new territory where a Revolution was brewing.

[Books&Thistle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lettura molto scorrevole e che mi ha tanto sorpresa. La storia di Flora che tutti conosciamo non é che una piccolissima parte di quella che é stata la vita avventurosa di una donna unica che, a partire da oggi, annovero ancor di più tra le donne capaci di essere di ispirazione.
L'ho letto molto volentieri nonostante alcuni frangenti ripetitivi.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to learn more about a piece of Scottish history. Also interesting to learn about the American revolution, as it was happening, from the perspective of Highlanders who were fighting on the British side.

[Kathleen]

See review by Julie Flavell in the NYTimes Book Review, Sunday, January 16, 2023.

[Jo Buchanan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good to hear the story of Flora MacDonald and what happened after her week with Charles Stuart.

[Clemencia Pueyo · Rating 3 out of 5]

No me ha gustado...

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating story about a fascinating woman. Unfortunately, I found the author’s writing style to be REALLY ANNOYING.

[Jennifer Annand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough start with all the historical information but worth keeping up with until the end. Finally got reference to the Outlander series!

[Joanna van Wel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious and clunky

[Suzanne Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fabulous subject matter and clearly well researched but certainly not an easy read

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this travelling around Skye wonderful to see the places in question and to be able to separate facts from folklore.

[Jane Masters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to read before visiting the outer Hebrides, but hard going at times.

[Soc Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

book with a map

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mother's best friend was a woman named Flora May Macdonald. I remember hearing that she was named for a famous Scots woman but never knew the story. I found this while browsing Thriftbooks and loved it. Very well written and what a story! It was so good I skipped an episode of The Gilmore Girls to finish it! And then I cried. I cannot remember the last time a book moved me to tears. Bonnie Prince Charlie didn't deserve her.

[ReadingForFun · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting story — but often buried beneath clunky writing and excessive, trivial details.