Amazon.com The Atholl Expedition
My review -
Alex
Roddie has created a tale consisting of a number of stories interwoven. Two of
his characters are Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, taking their holidays on
the Duke of Atholl’s estate. This was at
the time when the famous rows between the two had died down but there was still
some disagreement about certain things – like being home on your birthday! – to
provide narrative tension. The Duke has threatened one of his ghillies with the
loss of his job and his cottage if he can’t provide the Prince with a famous
stag to bring home as a trophy. The ghillie’s son works with his father but
yearns to break away. Forbes, a geologist, wants to follow up reports of a
glacier in Scotland, but had to cross the Duke of Atholl’s land and the Duke is
famously against trespassers. There’s all this and more here and it’s a very
interesting read.
I
have always admired the author’s approach to descriptive writing. It’s not easy
to do without sounding florid but his descriptions of storms, or of the
mountains themselves, are studies in the careful choice of words. I love this
style and I very much enjoyed the adventure story aspect of this book.
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