Customer Reviews

Kingdom of Shadows

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you like Scottish / English history and/or time travel, you need to read this book! It lead me to investigate the real Isobel and what happened to her. I don't want to give away any spoilers but what the book has Edward I condemning her to really happened!

I've read several other books by Barbara Erskine and highly recommend them all. Lady of Hay is another one that has a story based on real people. The format of the present day character always switching places with the historical person wears a bit thin after a few of her books but I guess if you find a format that works, don't change it!

Highly recommended

First I have to say that it was impossible to get hold of this book because it was out of print. One retailer made me wait for 7 month without any success. One day I ended up in a little bookstore called Shelly Leishman Books in Ottawa and the owner managed to get it for me within 2 weeks. Thank you.

Lady of Hay continues in Child of the Phoenix and Child of the Phoenix goes on in Kingdom of Shadows. Each book is independent of course. What a read. Obviously if people loved the first two books they will go after this one too. It was worth waiting 7.5 months to end up reading in within 2 days.

This book is a must read. I hope that Barbara Erskine will publish a new book soon.

Kingdom of Shadows is a parallel tale of Clare Royland in the 1980's and Isobel Buchan in Scotland at the time of Robert The Bruce in the latter 13th and early 14th century. Clare is married to stock broker Paul Royland who gambled with insider trading and lost and needs to sell Clare's Scottish Castle Duncairn to raise desperately needed funds. Unhappy in her marriage, Clare turns to yoga and meditation and she begins to see visions of the past as Isobel Buchan of Scotland relives her past through Clare.

The retelling of Isobel's life in Scotland, an unhappy marriage and her ultimate affair with Robert the Bruce and capture by Edward I and imprisonment in one of those infamous cages on the castle wall is interwoven with that of the present day Clare whose husband intrigues to have her proven insane so that he can lay claim to her property. Erskine does point out in her notes at the end of the book that Isobel, her crowning of Robert at Scone and capitivy are historical fact, but the affair with Robert is merely supposition by the author.

I did find the story entertaining enough and it kept me reading, but this is definitely not one of Erskine's best -- that would be Child of the Phoenix or Hiding from the Light. While I enjoyed the story set in the 13/14C, I really didn't particularly care for Isobel, she was a little too self centered for me and as for Clare -- likeable enough but bordering on TSTL for putting up with that pompous pig of a husband and not seeing him for what he really was. If you're an Erskine fan and can get your hands on a copy somewhat cheaply go for it, but don't go out of your way either. 3.5 stars.

Like other reviewers, I found myself regretful at leaving the 13th century part of this tale to return to the world of the modern woman here, Clare. A few lines into Clare's story, though, I would forget my frustration and once again fall into the narrative. Dark, frightening, and forcefully compelling, both interwoven stories are excellent. The exploration of love, obsession, and "supernatural" connections is not unique to this author or this novel, but it is all done very well here.

The book was hard to put down, though not as chilling or downright terrifying as another of Erskine's novels, MIDNIGHT IS A LONELY PLACE. Perhaps the strongest element here is the characterization: all of the characters are worth caring about, one way or another; even the purely despicable ones are well-drawn and very much alive, and you wait with baited breath to know what happens to them.

KINGDOM OF SHADOWS is -- if it is nothing else -- excellent escape reading. Be warned, though, it may leave you with a nameless shadow on your mind...

Kingdom of Shadows weaves a tale of a modern woman with that of her ancestor, and it makes for interesting reading.

I enjoyed this book tremendously, but there is no doubt that Isobel, Countess of Buchan is the true heroine of the book. I found myself skimming through the modern story of Clare in anticipation of the tragic story of the wild Isobel.

There seems to be an irony in that Isobel - who belonged to a time when women were expected to do nothing more than enter a convent or marry and provide heirs - never stopped fighting to be free of her loveless marriage, while Clare - a 20th century woman who belongs to a time when women are much more empowered - submits meekly to her selfish husband (except for, of course, the issue of selling Duncairn).

Also, in the hero department, Isobel's lover, Robert of Carrick -later to become King of Scots - is much more likable than Clare's Neil. Both husbands (John Comyn - Lord Buchan - and Paul Royland) were despicable.

If only for the beautifully told story of Isobel of Fife, I recommend this book.

I really got hooked on this book, great plot and well written.
I wasn't all that anxious to read the modern parts of the novel as I find with Barbara Erskine she tends to write excellent "past" stories but the "present" storyline aren't as interesting to read. However even the "present" storline in this book wasn't half bad. One of her best infact.
I just love how she can bring the characters and scenery to life and she does it very, very well in this novel as she did in Lady of Hay.
It seems this novel isn't easy to get, but I recommend you try because it's worth reading.

Barbara Erskine's knowledge of Scottish History, a subject she studied at Edinburgh University, is showcased in Kingdom of Shadows. The book tells the story of Clare Royland, unhappy in her marriage, who finds that meditation provides her with a gateway to the past. Clare's chief fascination is with Isobel, Countess of Buchan, whose story Clare heard from her Great Aunt Margaret countless times when she was a child. Clare is drawn deeper and deeper into Isobel's world as the story progresses and Isobel's story unfolds. This is a long, epic book, yet for all the length it is a book I find easy to read, a page-turner which carries me through the story with ease and grace.

When I first read Kingdom of Shadows I did so without criticism, enjoying the flow of the story, the dialogue, the interweaving of present and past. Rereading the book for this review - informed by a far greater knowledge of Scotland's geography and history - I found myself able to picture many of the locations mentioned in the book which I have visited including Edinburgh and Berwick. I also have greater appreciation of the historical sections of the novel, enjoying both the detail and the atmosphere the author invokes when writing about the distant past.

I now find the "present" parts of the book somewhat dated - some of the dialogue seems stiff (I sometimes found myself laughing at dialogue I am sure was meant to be serious!). It is difficult to feel empathy for many of the characters, for instance Clare's husband Paul. Some characters seem more important for their role in the story than their individuality, cogs in the greater wheels of the larger plot.

I read Kingdom of Shadows shortly after publication in 1988, having enjoyed Erskine's previous novel Lady Of Hay - another book where the historical past has huge impact on the present. Kingdom of Shadows came to mind when I recently read about some of the women associated Robert the Bruce's nationalist campaign being held in cages by the English as punishment for their Scottish allegiance. Days later I found a secondhand copy of Kingdom of Shadows in a shop in Inverness. It has been a pleasurable rereading of a book I thoroughly enjoyed more than twenty years ago. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys stories about Scotland and/or historical fiction.

Clare seems to have it all, money, land and a handsome husband. However, when Paul and Clare learn that they cannot have children, things seem to go awry. Through focused meditation, Clare begins reliving the past as Isobel, Countess of Buchan. The story alternates between the crumbling life of Paul and Clare and the war torn Scotland of the fourteenth century. As Paul makes one bad investment after another, he begins to pressure Clare to sell her inheritance, the ruined castle on the sea and the surrounding land of Duncairn. As he learns about her "trips into the past" he first involves the church and then plays upon her phobias to drive her further away from sanity.

Well written, this was definitely a page turner. I first picked up the book because I was interested in Isobel, the woman who spent four years hanging in a cage for crowning Robert the Bruce King of Scotland. However, now I've found an increasing interest in Scottish history. Her suspenseful writing style keeps the reader engaged and interested and her characters are dynamic and interesting.

I absolutely love this book and hadn't read it for years. The only problem is that I can't put it down at night and am now suffering from a lack of sleep. Lots of mystery and a real page turner. The good thing about reading it on Kindle is that you can't easily turn to the last page to try and find the answers. I would recommend this book to everybody.

I purchased this book on Kindle because it was so much cheaper than the print version.

This was the first Barbara Erskin book I read and since then have gone through everything she's written as quickly as I could. Her stories always sets the scene so clearly in my mind that I can't put it down for days! This would have to be my favourite book from Barbara Erskine, then it would be Child of the Phoenix and Lady of Hay. Someone wrote something about Diana Gababaldons book being just as wonderfull as this is and I have to agree 100%, also Virginia Andrews 'Heaven' series is a book to read if you want to get the same sort of quality in the writing and storyline.