PRINCE ACROSS THE WATER

The third in a projected quartet of historical novels about Scottish history takes as its tale that of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Battle of Culloden in the mid-18th century. Duncan of the clan MacDonald tells how his Da is summoned to fight with their laird for the true Scottish king against the English. When Da comes home, Duncan and his cousin Ewan run off to join the battle, despite Da’s gruesome stories of hardship and loss. Duncan’s eyewitness description of the slaughter at Culloden is strong stuff, but he lives to return to his family and even to help the charismatic Charles escape to France. The authors note the tracery of historical events on which Duncan’s tale is built, but this one lacks the energy of The Queen’s Own Fool (2000) or Girl in a Cage (2002).While the history and lore are compelling, Duncan and his family never quite become living folk to readers, but serve mostly as mechanisms to deliver the story. (Historical fiction. 10+)