Castlemore

Castlemore #1-2

by Charles MacKinnon

The story of a well-to-do Highland family, the MacInnes family from Christmas 1906 to the years leading up to World War II.

Genres: Historical Fiction

348 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1974

About the author

Charles Roy Stuart-Vernon (1924-2005), was the hereditary chieftain and laird of the Clan MacKinnon of Dunakin. He lived in his native Scotland and wrote popular novels of diverse genres and historical books about his loved Scotland and his clan. He also used the pennames of Charles Stuart, Charles MacKinnon, Charles MacKinnon of Dunakin, C. R. MacKinnon of Dunakin, C. R. MacKinnon, Graham Montrose, Iain Torr, I. Torr, Vivian Stuart, Vivian Donald and Barbara Lynn.

Reviews

[H.Friedmann · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was given to me as a gift by a friend who was on a mission with me to find the best epic romances. The inside flap indicates that this may be one, but it falls woefully short of epic. In outline it seems like there is potential to be one, but it reads more like a wikipedia article about the family rather than an engaging novel. It's sad really because there were so many good backdrops - Scotland, India, WWI. People get jilted, go to prison - both for things they did and did not do - and yet the author tells, doesn't show. Years pass in the space of paragraphs. It is impossible to either connect with the characters, their setting, or the action that occurs. I should have been heartbroken at times, and I just wasn't. None of the characters have any real depth, never mind any inner monologue. For example - one character disappears for the first half of the book, only to be the center of the second half, having completely reformed for no discernible reason. One day he just decided to live his life differently. You can't even say that his actions don't make sense, because they might if there had been a Valjean moment, but there's just nothing - and all the characters are like that - just paper dolls. The best that could be said for it was that it was a really quick read.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had this in a box of used books that I had bought but never read. It's not one that I'm going to hold onto to re-read.

This seemed rather flat, although I can't really say what's wrong. The beginning and the end list a lot of characters and genealogy quickly, so there isn't much to personalize them. Although the front matter focuses on Norma, she doesn't feel like the focus of the book. Rather, she's just someone who is always there. The only time i empathized with her was in a scene with her parents more than halfway through the book.

The book goes from 1906 to 1936, so a new generation grows up.

The main character in the first half is Alasdair, a soldier, who loves being in the army and spends more time worrying about his regiment than about his family.

The main character in the second half is younger brother Bobbie. He starts out as the black sheep of the family, stealing his mother's jewels and running away. But by the time he becomes the main character he has spent time in prison and reformed. He gets a job and doesn't complain about having been left out of his father's will or not having the money that the other members of the family do.

Although it's a decent story when it slows down enough to follow the different family members I never really got into it enough to identify with any of the characters. The style is "this happened and then this happened and then this happened and then this person reflected on what someone else did..." rather than making their feelings real.

One of the blurbs compared this with books by R.F. Delderfield. From my recollection of his books years ago, that seems fair - slow moving sagas without much personality.

[Susan]

1906-1936 Scotland about a rich family

[Meagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I surprisingly enjoyed it. At first I thought it was comically bad because of how superficial and quickly everything was described. The whole synopsis of the book happens in basically 5 chapters. But as I read, I realized that if he's going to tell us the stories of 3 generations, it would have to be fast. You do become fond of the characters, despite the cursory and brief glimpses we're given into their emotions/thoughts. I think, despite my first thoughts, that he did a good job of portraying sincere, plain human events.

[Jaynie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to put this in a niche. I suppose it is sort of a romance; though not so much (obviously written by a man). Having said that, this seems to be more of a generational almost historic fiction. I suppose to be honest I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to anyone. Two stars might actually be close than three. With the family tree in the front of the book, its easy to keep track of who, what, where.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging characters and while some may find MacKinnon glosses too quickly over years and the happenings of the members of the MacInnes family, I found his pacing--skimming over chunks of years and then dipping deeper into revealing portraits of the handful of characters he has organized his family saga around absorbing and interesting. It is a quick and enjoyable read if you can find it.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book when i was a teenager and at the time i loved it. I read it again as an adult and well, i like it bu ti did not love it.