Dark Birthright

Dark Birthright #1

by Jeanne Treat, Jane Starr Weils (Illustrator)

It's 1619 in Scotland, a time of intolerance, when healers are hanged as witches. A child born of mysterious parentage is given to fisher folk to raise as their son. Dughall grows up in a family bound by love and morality, becomes a healer, and displays psychic abilities. His life is torn apart when he's claimed by his real father, a cruel and powerful lord who tries to mold him in his image. Dughall must define himself, in the midst of a struggle between an Earl, a Duke, and the family who wants him back...

Dark Birthright is a story reflecting the political, religious, and cultural dynamics of 17th century Scotland. The novel is the first book in a trilogy. It is followed by Dark Lord and Dark Destiny.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Romance, Scotland, Romance, Historical

429 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2006

About the author

Jeanne Treat is the author of The Dark Birthright Trilogy, which features three illustrated books, Dark Birthright, Dark Lord, and Dark Destiny. To research the books, Jeanne traveled to Scotland to visit castles, seaports, and stone circles, and talk to local historians. To make it authentic, she investigated ancient earth-based spiritual traditions and healing arts. She lives with her husband Robert and two Scottish terriers, Maggie and Duff.

Reviews for Dark Birthright:

Scotland in the year 1619 A.D. was a place where healers were hanged as witches, Catholics and Protestants sought to suppress each other, and a child born of unknown parentage is raised by fisher folk as their own son. Young Dughall growing up in a family that emphasized love and morality becomes a healer, displays psychic abilities, and loves village girl. Then one day a cruel and powerful lord claims Dughall as his father and seeks to mold the talented and conscientious Dughall into a copy of himself. The first of a planned trilogy, "Dark Birthright" is the fascinating and deftly written story of a young man's struggle amidst the political turmoil, religious strife, and dangerous highland world of 17th century Scotland. Of special note is the descriptive introduction of the fisher folk and villagers that still worship the Goddess despite the risk of being put to death as witches. "Dark Birthright" is particularly recommended for readers with an interest in well-rendered historical fiction. - Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/lbw/...

Fantastic! Lucky me to be picked to review this book. In summation it’s an adult equivalent of the Harry Potter series… Magnificent human creativity! - read the entire review at: Tregolwyn Book Reviews
http://www.sassoonfellowship.org/treg...

Ms. Treat has captured the life of medieval Scotland with clear and vivid prose. You'll enter a world where you can almost feel the spray from the sea, the warmth from the peat fires and the love as you enter the homes of the seafaring people of Whinnyfold. She shows how a noble may rule with grace and understanding or with unforgiving bitterness. She'll take you to the stone circle to honor the goddess with pagan rituals and celebrations. She touches on the healing powers of herbs, and the medieval superstitions concerning these rites. The relationships are believable whether there's love, loyalty or vengefulness. This is definitely a tale for everyone. It is rich with history, myths, magic, and the paranormal. Characters you'll fall in love with and those who you may actually hate. - Karen Michelle Nutt, author and reviewer for ParaNormalRomance Reviews - paranormalromance.org
http://www.paranormalromance.org/revi...

Reviews

[Dwayne Kavanagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most people have their own rating system for books, and I rate books based on personal expectations. I expect to be ripped from my chair, bed, or from wherever I plant myself, and be thrown into the world the author creates. I want to forget...EVERYTHING, up to the very moment where I spread open the pages, and read the first word. For me, a 5-star rating belongs to books that do just that. 'Dark Birthright' captured me immediately and pulled me into the author’s conjured world. I loved the characters, the settings, the true human emotions. Each chapter was filled with tension, and rattled my emotions. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves to be swept away. Jeanne hurry up and finish the sequel...I want more!!!

[Lindsay Flanagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although not in the same caliber of Diana Gabaldon's historical fiction of Scotland, this is still a fun book. It's a good story but not as in depth in the history or as well-written asthe Outlander series. I would recommend it to fans of Outlander or of Scotland.

[Betty Cloer Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent series of well researched historical fiction of Auld Scotland. The characters are well developed, the plot is robust, and you can immerse yourself in this Scottish world of times past. And the artwork (drawings of characters) are excellent.

[AMI · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book should in no way be compared to the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, or recommended to her fans.

[Cathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. I found the "good pagan, bad christian" slant offensive.

[Helen C · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the rocky coast of Scotland, an epic story unfolds. Great read

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Medieval Scotland: Dughall is born and his poor mother, who had been severely mistreated, perishes. He is given to the Hays, who shower him with love, giving him the foundation to be a good and honest man.

Dughall and his brother Ian Hay share the same birthday of Oct. 31st, the day of the dead. They have the sight and can sense each other’s pain and pleasures. Doughall also has a connection with Keira, a pagan priestess. They dream of each other and hope to marry one day. For a while, everything is wonderful at the seaside village of Whinnyfold, until Dughall’s real father shows up to bring him home to Huntly.

At the castle: The Earl of Huntly gives a new name to the word evil. He is cruel and deals out punishment sometimes without reason. Dughall tries to understand his father, but there seems to be no pleasing the man. There’s Kate, the Earl’s mistress who has her own agenda and Fang, who takes great pleasure in torturing people. Dughall does find friendship with Murdock, who is assigned to protect him. He realizes there is more to his brother Gilbert than meets the eye and he meets his mother’s father, the Duke of Drake. He is a kind man who would like to take Dughall away from the Earl, but law states he cannot interfere.

As the story unfolds, the reader will find out how the characters shape each others lives and their futures.

Ms. Treat has captured the life of medieval Scotland with clear and vivid prose. You’ll enter a world where you can almost feel the spray from the sea, the warmth from the peat fires and the love as you enter the homes of the seafaring people of Whinnyfold. She shows how a noble may rule with grace and understanding or with unforgiving bitterness. She’ll take you to the stone circle to honor the goddess with pagan rituals and celebrations. She touches on the healing powers of herbs, and the medieval superstitions concerning these rites. The relationships are believable whether there’s love, loyalty or vengefulness. This is definitely a tale for everyone. It is rich with history, myths, magic, and the paranormal. Characters you’ll fall in love with and those who you may actually hate.

Reviewed for PNR Romance

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed in this book. Not for the reasons stated on Amazon but more by the undertones of the book. I liked the characters, I liked the story line, yes there were some editing errors which seem to be common in today's market. What I did not like was the historical inaccuracy. They smoked cigars from Cuba??? People smoked pipes back then. There was a lot of talk about cranberries, I'm pretty sure they were a North American fruit discovered once settlers came to this country and probably was not as wildly available in Scotland at this time. Some of the dress descriptions also seemed off. Skirts and sweaters for the women?? Then there were the religious undertones in the book. I understand the comparison of new and old religion and the constant battle between religions at this time but seemed like every thing was due to God. This book is a typical struggle of good and evil, light and dark. Will I read the other two I'm not sure yet. I tried to start book #2 but it's not holding my interest at this time. I may try to push through but so far I don't like what I'm reading.

[Cheri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm struggling to get through this book even though I WANT to read it because it is set in the land of my ancestors - their very castle and even bears their very names, but all of the "thanks be to the goddess" stuff and the pagan worship crap is really hard for this Christian to get past. My ancestors were Protestants and Catholics and supporters of the king/queen, so much so that they went to war over it (even amongst themselves). To this day, some theorize that is why there are two branches of the family spelling the surname differently - to distinguish which chose Catholicism from Protestantism. In one place, the writer would have the would-be nominal churchy pagans say regarding the witches "but what does it matter? They're people like us. They heal our sick and tend our wounds. Should we kill them because they're different?"

Now, lest someone think that I'm advocating killing witches, I'm not. I'm just saying that their theology/idealogy creeps me out.

[Gen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had an interesting storyline however I really didn't enjoy the writing style at all. I found it very juvenille and written like a fanfiction. I think it could have been better written and I found the style very lacking. That being said, I enjoyed the story and the main character, Dughall. I found his story intriguing enough to keep reading through it. Some of the secondary characters were .... well ... idiotic. I really didn't like the druid Kira, she really irked me and I found her exceptionally flakey. I'm glad that Dughall's story was more interesting than hers becuase I'd have stopped reading then and there. A good read if you don't want to really think!

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really read much YA books these days. This book has been on my TBR list for a year or so and thought I'll give it a shot. Besides YA, it's a cross of historical fiction and fantasy, set in Scotland in the 1600s, when a baby is born into a fisherman's family, and learns he's a true heir to a lord, when he carries the Second Sight and fell in love with a Wiccan witch. It has drama, passion, action, romance, well-detailed research to back it up, and a delightful read, whether you read YA or not. Enjoy!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so pleased to meet the author at a local Celtic Festival and could hardly put the book down the day I bought it. What an interesting woman and author! She, herself, is a healer and she has traveled to Scotland several times to study her ancestors and to research for this book. I could definitely sense this with the authenticity of the scenes. I think I especially enjoyed the way she recreated the mystical aspect of this time in Scottish history.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally like "historical fiction", but I really enjoyed this one. It is set in Scotland, and there is a pleasant amount of slang in it. I have heard that there is supposed to be a second book to go with this one, but it ends really well, and wouldn't need another one.

I really liked the complexity of this book. There was a lot that happened, and the author did a good job of wrapping it all up at the end.

[Brigid Armbrust · Rating 1 out of 5]

I absolutely hated this book. I am sure I could go on about specifics for a long time, but honestly there are other things I would rather do with my time. In a nutshell, the writing was VERY poor and there were numerous issues with historical accuracy. The plot was okay, though predictable and not very original; and I often had trouble focusing on it because of the terrible writing. Beautiful illustrations, though!

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was amazing. It is a little bit different than the book type that I usually read but this book was hard to put down. When I was able to I went straight to this book to read. When I heard that Jeanne Treat (who was at the festival where I bought the book :)) was writing a continuation I could not wait until it came out. I give this book a major thumbs up!!

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book from Mom :)
This was an interesting perspective for a "romance" novel, although I wouldn't say it was that at all, either. The POV was from 2 brothers who could 'feel' each others thoughts and actions. There was some romance, some battle, some gore...all together an easy, enjoyable read.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't find her writing very smooth... and seems almost childish in the way that it is not finessed. The story line is alright but I'm not sure if that's because it harkens to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. I think this might have been a really good trilogy if she had spent more time expanding on things between conversations. It felt quite stilted because of it.

[Carol L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found it a bit hard to get into, found the writing to be a bit choppy. But overall, liked the story and looking forward to the second of the Trilogy. As soon as I finish the Outlander re-read, I'm on it!

[Barb Crumb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always enjoy historic fiction based on real people in real time dealing with real historical period. This is the first book of a trilogy of such books, based on the religious wars in the time of King Charles of England, and I found it to be very interesting.

[Agnes Muscoreil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scotland, 1600's, excellent tale of love, hate, earls, dukes, witches, pagans, Christians, good folk, bad folk, a little bit of everything! Kept my interest and couldn't put the darn thing down! Now on to book 2 ~

[Linda Lavid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific historical novel. Takes place in Scotland. Characters vividly drawn. A keeper.

[Regina Bennett]

I'm waiting for the final book to be released before I read the first one!!!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read to refresh my memory. Started last book in series and couldn't remember what was going on.

[KyBunnies · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is another MUST READ. Loved the book from start to finish.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this! The writing wasnt the best, but I found myself reading slower and slower because the story was really good. I am really looking forward to reading the next two!

[Jean]

Part of the Dark Lord series set in Scotland.

[Sasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had amazing potential, but it was rather predictable and weakly written.

[Euni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Great story. I love the Scottish storyline.