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ClareR (5864 KP) rated The Ninth Child in Books

May 1, 2020

The Ninth Child

Sally Magnusson | 2020 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy

10.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Victorian Scotland, where reality meets myth.

The Ninth Child is a mesmerising mix of reality and fairytale. Neither of them are the pretty version, either. The story itself is set in Glasgow and the Trossachs between 1856 and 1859, where Isabel Aird is the wife of a young doctor. She has miscarried all seven of the babies she has carried so far, and is struggling to find meaning in her life. Her husband is very protective of her, but she can’t seem to forgive him for his apparent ability to shake off the loss of their babies.

We also get little glimpses in to the private lives of Queen Victoria and Albert, and the reason for this becomes clear as the story progresses. The link between the two families seems to be a strange character called Robert Kirke. Strange things seem to have been happening since the digging and tunnelling began. Isabel meets this strange man not long after she moves near to the site of the Loch Katrine Waterworks. This is no place for a lady brought up in all the comforts of a well-to-do Glaswegian home. But Isabel finds solace in the wildness, and the descriptions of the lochs and landscapes makes it easy to understand why.

This was such a surprising book, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I WAS expecting a good story - I loved The Sealwoman’s Gift. The mix of real, hard life and the fairy elements were really well done, and I loved that these weren’t the pretty, twee, friendly fairies that we seem to hear of so much of these days. I like my fairies to be tricksters, untrustworthy, always looking for an angle that they can work, a little grotesque.

I really enjoyed this book, and seemed to read it far too quickly. I’m a lover of history, myths and the unexplained, and this certainly delivered in these areas. The writing is gorgeous - the descriptions are such that you feel you’re there. We were supposed to be going on holiday this year to the Highlands, and this has made me hope even more that we’ll still be able to go. It’s one thing reading a description, it’s quite another to be there, experiencing the landscape for yourself.

This is a wonderful book, and one to tell my friends about!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Two Roads for my copy of this book to read and review.