“I was at once exhausted and jittery, with that horrible battlefield feeling, of being in the midst of events beyond my ability to control, but which must be dealt with anyway.”
― Drums of Autumn
― Drums of Autumn
“Yes, there was forgiveness; she must find a way to forgive the man, for her own sake. But he was a different matter. “ ‘Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.’” He whispered it to himself. Then he looked up, away from the safe small glow of hearth and home, to the flaming glory of the stars above. “The hell it is,” he said, aloud, shamed but defiant. It was ungrateful, he knew. And wrong, forbye. But there it was, and no use to lie either to God or to himself about it. “The hell it is,” he repeated, louder. “And if I am damned for what I’ve done—then let it be! She is my daughter.”
― Drums of Autumn
― Drums of Autumn
“I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made: Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee. And live alone in the bee-loud glade.”
― Drums of Autumn
― Drums of Autumn
“It’s a poem, or part of one. Daddy always used to say it, when he’d come home and find Mama puttering in her garden—he said she’d live out there if she could. He used to joke that she—that she’d leave us someday, and go find a place where she could live by herself, with nothing but her plants.”
― Drums of Autumn
― Drums of Autumn
“Scots have long memories,” he’d said, “and they’re not the most forgiving of people. There’s a clan stone out there with the name of MacKenzie carved on it, and a good many of my relatives under it.” He had smiled then, but not in jest. “I don’t feel quite so personal about it as some, but I haven’t forgotten either.” No, not conquered. Not through a thousand years of strife and treachery, and not now. Defeated, scattered, but still surviving. Like Ian, maimed but upright. Like her father, exiled but still a Highlander.”
― Drums of Autumn
― Drums of Autumn
marissa’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at marissa’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by marissa
Lists liked by marissa





















