For instance, Montrose brings a Bible home to Magdalen, who suspects that it has been given to Montrose by a lover, but as she never asks him about it and neither Montrose nor Jenkins ever clears up the matter, the reader is left hanging. A Scottish writer, Jenkins assumes that his readers are familiar with Montrose’s history, and most of them may well be, but this novel does little to enlighten those who aren’t. Nonetheless, I found this novel somewhat unsatisfying.
The quality of the writing is excellent: an unfussy prose that is spare without feeling barren. The people Magdalen interacts with in her daily life–ministers, doctors, teachers, servants–are vividly and interestingly portrayed, and Jenkins has a nice ear for dialogue. She could quite easily be insufferable, but she’s not, perhaps because she possesses a sense of humor and a strong moral code without being priggish. She’s universally beloved by all of her servants and most of those beneath her social station, and she displays a great deal of quiet courage when men come to destroy Montrose’s castle, Montrose’s loyalty to the king having made himself many enemies. Though obedient to Montrose, Magdalen is not a dishrag she has decided opinions about honor and the folly of war, which she expresses to Montrose. Gentle, peace-loving Magdalen is rather neglected by Montrose, who comes home from time to time, makes a snide remark to her, feels bad about it and apologizes, fathers another son, and leaves home again. Lady Magadalen, however, focuses mainly on Magdalen, who–according to Jenkins, anyway–bore Montrose four sons and lived quietly at home while Montrose traveled about and involved himself in politics and war. (The novel, however, ends sometime before his ultimate downfall and death.) I confess I had not heard of Montrose before I read this novel, as my knowledge of 17th-century Scottish history is next to nonexistent, but he seems to have led a fascinating life. Montrose became a supporter of Charles I and eventually was hanged, drawn, and quartered. I finished reading Lady Magdalen by Robin Jenkins, which is about Magdalen Carnegie, who at a young age married James Graham, Earl of Montrose and later Marquis of Montrose.
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