The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

The Maiden by Kate Foster

I appear to be reading several Longlist offerings at once. I was looking forward to this one, but it didn’t meet my expectations.

My daughter went through a stage where she was very keen on ghosts and ghost stories. We visited a few ‘haunted buildings’ in Cape Town and tried to learn the stories. In 2019 when we visited my family in Scotland, my brother was full of ‘grey man’ and ‘white lady’ stories. I therefore liked the concept of this story- the backstory of an historic murderess.

I think what I struggled with was that I could appreciate the historic setting, the language, culture and role of the aristocracy. The central character presented as fairly modern in her thinking. I also just did not empathize with any of the characters, they felt a bit flat and one - dimensional to me.

I think there are other historical fiction offerings that might have sat better on the Longlist. But I am aware that I am not Scottish and maybe my historic expectations are off.

No I tend to agree. Fits the wide range of a WP longlist but seemed lacking as both a historical novel and a crime novel (it won a debut crime novel prize) for me.

The modern feel is deliberate though (even if I felt it did not really work)

From an interview

“The biggest tip I got was not to try to invent historical characters! Instead, make them modern characters who are just like us, with our wants and needs and desires. That way, the reader can identify with them, and they feel authentic. As for the dialogue, they speak in the same way as me and my friends and family. I found it easy to write some of the dialogue as it was like chatting to friends.”

Lisa and GY - thanks for the comments. I started it yesterday and wasn't getting on too well. It will be a DNF from me.

I am listening to this on Audible... it's okay so far. I am not blown away by it but not a bad listen while I clean. Easy enough to follow. With more literary fiction I prefer to read it myself so I can pause and re-read sections and often consider how words sit on the page.