Welcome to another character interview on The Glorious Outsiders, where we are quite possibly a bit addicted to writing, obsessed with memorable characters and like to celebrate being a little bit different! If that sounds like your kind of thing, you are in the right place and it’s a pleasure to have you here!

At the start of each month I post an interview with a character from a book I have enjoyed. I have read other books by author Miriam Hastings so knew I was in for a treat when I recently devoured her new release, The Dowager’s Dream. I’m not usually a fan of historical fiction, however, this book absolutely blew me away and I am still thinking about it weeks after finishing it. The plot is wonderful (rich people trampling all over poor people, just to get a bit richer sums it up crudely) the location is just breathtaking, in fact, a character in its own right, and the people, the characters who make up this novel are completely real to me. And that is what I am always looking for when reading… So often I find myself enjoying a clever plot or a unique location, perhaps even poised on the edge of my seat in anticipation for the next twist in the tale, but if I don’t care about the characters I feel cheated. These characters, particularly Kirsty and Mary, were so incredibly real to me. I wanted them to be real. I wanted to know them, talk to them, confide in them and help them. Since finishing the book, I keep wondering what they are up to… what has happened next. That’s a good book, to me, anyway. That’s a book I will never forget. So, without further ado please welcome Kirsty, my favourite character from the book, to The Glorious Outsiders for her interview. You will find a link to the book at the end and I beg you to check it out!

1. How old are you?

I was 14 the year Miss Mary and I saw the sea-monster trapped in the ice, but now I be near 20.

2. Where do you come from?

I was born on my da’s farmstead which sits in the river valley of Strath Kerrow with its good rich soil, five miles upstream from the sea.

3. Where do you live? Describe it to us

When I was 10 years old I went to work at the manse in the village below the Bighouse, and there I remain to this day with the Minister, Mr MacKenzie, and his daughter,Miss Mary. The manse is a grand stone house with two storeys, it is but a few minutes walk across the dunes to the shore and the fierce waves of the great ocean that stretches all the way to Canada.

4. Do you have a family, if so tell us about them.

Most of my family still live on their croft in Strath Kerrow. There be my granny who is very old and wise and has the sight, my da and mam, my favourite brother Iain, and my wee brother Davy. My eldest brother Peter is married now to my cousin Ruth. I love all my family dearly, look you, but my brother Peter is a wild one and so is Ruth. They are always in trouble with the factor and the Minister – and dragging others into trouble with them.

5. Who is your best friend and why?

I might say that Miss Mary is my best friend and I know she would wish me to think so, but I am her servant so I must always try to please her. This I find a burden for I’m a strong-willed girl, no bobbing head, “yes ma’am, no ma’am, whatever you say ma’am” sortof limmer. I do love her indeed but I need my job – and that will always be in the way of any friendship between one such as me and one such as her.

So I will name my cousin Ruth as my best friend, we both grew up on our family’s farmsteads, me in Strath Kerrow and she in Strath Harrowdale, where we worked as hard as any lad. I think we’ve always been special friends because we the both have no sister, nought but brothers, so we are close tho’ she was always a wild lass, forever leading me into mischief. Truth to tell, she is quieter and less troublesome now she’s a mam with a wee bairn.

6. Who is your worst enemy?

My worst enemy is easy to name; it is the Laird who would steal our land and drive us away, to replace us with an army of great white sheep.

7. What talents do you have? 

I cannae say for sure that I have any. Miss Mary says I make good pastry and barley bread and oatcake, and the Dowager says I’m a fine shot with a pistol – her ladyship even gave me a grand pistol with a pearl handle to have as my own.

8. What flaws do you have?

I am loathe to say I have flaws any more than I have talents. I be an honest servant and a hard worker, a loving daughter and a loyal friend. It is true that I was once unkind to the Laird’s land agent, William Patterson, and aided Peter and Ruth in a cruel deception of the man – but there can be no doubt he deserved it!

9. What do you think people think of you?

Miss Mary would say I am too outspoken and it’s true I believe in saying what I think is right, even to those who think themselves above me; but then there are times she relies upon me as if I were her mam, tho’ I be younger than her and her servant. William Patterson thought me primitive, just an ignorant peasant, as he does us all, and the Laird dislikes me thoroughly for I stand up to him and will no be cowed. I’d say his lady mother, the Dowager, has grown fond of me as I have of her.

I believe – at least I hope – the Welsh shepherd Tom Hughes has a great love for me in his heart and I hope to marry him one day. But not too soon!

10. What do you wish people knew about you?

I wish the gentry knew I was as clever and canny as they are; and I wish my own folk understood why I care so much about Miss Mary – and about her father and the Dowager, too. They may be gentle-born but they are good people and have shown me much kindness.

11. What is your greatest fear?

My greatest fear is that my family will lose their farmstead just as my uncle and auntie already have, and that they will starve as a result and my gentle brother Iain will go for a soldier so he can send home his wages, and then he’ll be likely to die fighting for the Sassenach king against that French devil Napoleon.

12. What is your biggest hope?

 My biggest hope is that the Laird will die before his mother, the Dowager, so that he never gets his hands upon our land.

13. What is your biggest secret?

My biggest secret?

Mebbe my biggest secret is that I smuggled Tom Hughes into the Bighouse one evening. I wanted to awe him with its size and grand furnishings. We were that close to being caught, canoodling in the Laird’s own bed!

14. What is the worst thing you have done to another person?

I have already told how I once helped Peter, Iain and Ruth deceive the factor and agent, William Patterson. With the help of the Minister’s opium and spirit from my da’s still, we fooled him into believing he’d been magicked away by the fey folk.

It was Ruth and her family paid for it and I am truly sorry.

15. What kind of friend are you?

Sometimes I can be unfair to people, I cannae deny it. I have turned against Miss Mary at least once when she did no deserve it, punishing her for the hardships suffered by my relatives when it was no her fault.

16. Is there anything about your life you would change?

I wish folk like my da and mam had rights to their own crofts and could no be made to flit when the Laird takes it into his head to drive them from their homes.

17. Where would you like to be in 5 years time?

In 5 years time I think mebbe I would like to wed Tom. We could go away to Canada where they say land is plentiful, or we could move to Tom’s homeland of Wales and see if we can settle on a farm there. It is hard to know what land there will be for poor working folksuch as us.

18. Do you have any regrets?

What is the point of regrets? Only the wealthy with time on their hands can indulge in them!

19. How would you like to be remembered?

I would like all those who love me well to remember me as one who never gave up easily and always fought for her family and her people – an honest woman strong and brave.

20. What are your hobbies/how do you relax?

When do I have time for hobbies? I work hard from dawn til dark. When I have time to sit still, look you, such as when I’m sitting in the kirk on a Sabbath, I doze off I am that tired!

There are times when I can get away to see my family and we will ceilidh with our friends, those times I enjoy. And, to tell truth, I like to walk with Miss Mary down to the shore on a fine sunny day (rare enough up here) to collect shellfish, or just to smell the clean salty air and listen to her maunder on about her seamaid.

Thank you so much to author Miriam Hastings for lending us the wonderfully charismatic Kirsty to chat to today!

Here is my review of The Dowager’s Dream:

I was curious to read this book as I have enjoyed the author’s other works very much. However, I am not usually drawn to historical fiction so I was unsure. I am so glad I gave it a go as this is one of the best books I have read in a long time and it will stay with me for a long time to come. I had to write my review on the day I finished reading it, so that everything was fresh in my head and I could do it justice!
The story is told from two points of view – minister’s daughter Mary and her maid, Kirsty and the setting is the north of Scotland in the early years of the 19th century. Here, the ordinary folk work the land owned by the Laird of the estate, which he has left in the hands of his mother, the Dowager. People are happy for the most part. Life is tough but so are the people, who gather together to love and obey God under the stern and watchful eye of the minister, Mr Mackenzie. When Mary sees a mermaid, Kirsty believes it to be a bad omen, while the Dowager is as curious and enthralled as Mary. It seems Kirsty is right, however, when the ghastly spoilt Laird returns to announce grand changes. He has plans to evict the tenant farmers and fill his land with profitable sheep and he employs cruel and violent methods to dispose of the peasants, who are less then human primitives in his eyes. This is a story that is hard to sum up. It is brooding and atmospheric, the rugged Scottish highlands almost a character in their own right and it keeps a steady gentle pace that draws you in, comforts you and fills your mind and your heart. I became utterly immersed and lost in the world the author had created. I loved every character, especially the girls telling the story and felt as if I truly knew and understood them. I felt sorrow, anger and fear for the way the tenants were treated and I cheered them all on with every small, brave victory. The mermaid and also selkies are perfect mythical folklore stories woven into the fabric of this mesmerising story and they provided great joy to me as a reader. I was curious, I was involved, I was happy and sad and everything in between. This is a tale of rich people trampling all over poor people just to get even richer and that is something still very relevant today. I implore people to read this book. If you enjoy historical fiction you will love it, but if you enjoy character driven tales and folklore you will also appreciate it greatly. I will be thinking about this and I’m now enduring a true book hangover and missing it immensely!
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And here is the Amazon link!