Monday, March 2, 2015

The Guynd: A Scottish JournalThe Guynd: A Scottish Journal by Belinda Rathbone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was hesitant in picking up "The Guynd A Scottish Journal" despite a recent infatuation with Scottish history it was not my ideal read by all accounts of what was presented to me. Why would I wish to read an American's perspective? Let alone an American's "Journal". Not to mention it takes place in the 90's and I'd rather read about when the Georgian house, of which the novel gets its name, was originally built. Fortunately, the extent of my library's Scottish section is half a column of shelf space before quickly transitioning to works on Ireland.

The author/narrator is quickly sympathetic to the avid reader. To the women of the church of Jane Austen, the appeal of marrying a man who happens to be a Laird of a large estate in Britain is the thing of daydreams and overly thought out schemes. And just as Elizabeth Bennet could not love Mr. Darcy until arriving at Pemberly, so to is this a tale of a lady and her house.

"The Guynd..." is a Harlequin romance for the logic minded with a heart for British literature. Just as any affair of paperback novels unfolds so to does the relationship between Ms. Rathbone and The Guynd. It would be easy for any avid anglophile to spend a lazy Sunday flipping the pages of this woman's Scottish Fling with the landed class of the lowlands and feel satisfied.

Although the ending does come abruptly, the reason for this can be explained by the secondary relationship of the novel; Ms. Rathbone's marriage to her husband. As their marriage evolves and changes so does her relationship with The Guynd, leading to her revelation at the end of the novel.


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