3.5 stars

Alison Blackadder, a fictional character, joins the court of Mary Queen of Scots in the hope of persuading the queen to return Blackadder Castle to the family after it has been taken from them by the Hume family two generations earlier. Alison has been fostered and dressed as a boy to hide her from the long arm of the Humes. Now her preference for male attire endears her to the queen, who likes to dress as a man and mix with her subjects without being recognized.

The book covers the period beginning with the return of Mary to Scotland and ends after she flees to England. The author stayed within the boundaries of accepted historical facts, no flights of fancy here, and her characterization of Mary in particular was very good. Then again, I might feel that way because she used all the books I've read on the subject.

What I didn't like was the amount of gender confusion - Alison's sexual orientation seemed to change depending on whether she was dressed as a man or a woman, and I couldn't see any point in the resulting thrysts. The book is written in the present tense, which didn't work for me, and the same goes for her rather sparse and sometimes abrupt writing style, although others might enjoy it. ( )

Set in Scotland during the early years of Mary Queen of Scots reign, The Raven's Heart follows Alison Blackadder on her quest to reclaim her family's castle from the powerful Scottish family that seized it a generation earlier. In a effort to keep her protected from her family's enemies, who would kill her if they knew she existed, Alison lives her life as a boy. When Mary Queen of Scots returns to her homeland from France, Alison's father, through Lord Bothwell, is able to secure her a position as one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting. Although this position affords Alison the opportunity to raise the issue of her family's lost castle with the Queen, it also means that she must cast off her male disguise and live as a young woman. Captivated by Mary from the moment she meets the monarch, Alison manages to adapt to her new role with relative ease. But Alison is keenly aware of the danger she is placed in as a member of Mary's court, and must ensure that she makes no wrong move that would either bring her to the attention of her enemies or cause her to fall from Mary's favour.

With a quick-moving plot, well-developed main characters and a strong sense of both time and place, The Raven's Heart is a thoroughly enjoyable novel. Narrated from Alison Blackadder's point of view, the reader is able to fully appreciate the desire for revenge driving her quest to reclaim her family's castle. Through Alison's eyes the reader comes to know Mary Queen of Scots, a woman used to getting her own way and one who is easily able to charm all those she comes into contact with, including Alison. While Alison's quest is at the heart of this story, it is set against the backdrop of the early years of Mary's reign. Although Alison is a fictional character, author Jesse Blackadder has seamlessly inserted her heroine into the actual events that shaped Mary's reign, including her marriage to Lord Darnley, the murder of David Rizzio, and Mary's later marriage to Lord Bothwell, a match that turned most of Scotland against her. As a result, this novel not only tells a great fictional story, it also brings 16th Scottish history vividly to life. In Alison, Jesse Blackadder has created a strong and memorable heroine. While Alison is willing to do whatever it takes to maintain the Queen's favour, and thus place herself in a position to gain back what she feels is her birthright, she acknowledges that not all of her actions are honourable. The author has also done a commendable job with the characterizations of each of the historical figures that feature prominently in this novel, most notably Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley, whose portrayals are consistent with history. The only weak spot of this novel relates to Alison's short love affair with another lady of the court. While Alison is portrayed as having fallen in love, the reader learns next to nothing about the woman to whom she gives her heart, or what she has done to earn Alison's devotion. The only thing they seem to share is lust for one another and, as a result, it is difficult to believe that the affair is a great love match.

The Raven's Heart is recommended to all fans of historical fiction, especially those interested in Scottish history.

Note: A copy of this novel was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. ( )

An impressive and lengthy historical fiction debut from an author with a unique perspective, Jesse Blackadder explores and animates Scotland in the 1500's with this detailed and epic look at a family desperate for their ancestral inheritance during the time of the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. With some of the hallmarks expected from a novel looking at a treacherous Court of an unsteady Queen like betrayal, deception and unrequited love, Blackadder still manages to inject some new ideas and characters into a story well-known hundreds of years later. With a tagline of "a story of a quest, a castle, and Mary, Queen of Scots" I had a feeling this would be a novel right up my alley - and I was right. I was vastly entertained by Blackadder's vision, and found myself both eager for resolution and reluctant to end my time with such indelible characters.

The strongest aspect of the novel is without a doubt the main character and narrator of Alison Blackadder. I can honestly say that this complicated and realistic young woman is utterly unlike any other historical fiction protagonist I have ever read before. I always love reading about girls disguising themselves as boys - to spy, to learn, whatever the cause may be - and Alison's years masquerading as a young man named Robert left a mark on her character. She is androgynous, bisexual, smart, patient, and above all, authentic in all her various manifestations. There are some obvious parallels between her and her Queenly counterpart - two displaced young woman desperate to come into their own and their inheritance, one as a Queen and the other as noble without her ancestral castle - but Alison is unique, and interesting. Even more so than the Queen she loves and cannot escape, Alison commands a lot of attention. I thought her narration was consistently strong, and the benefit of having such a unique voice is not lost as the pages rapidly add up.

Alison/Robert is the strongest in a strong cast, but Blackadder extends the same believability and roundedness to her other players. Mary, the Queen, is conflicted and willful, dangerous and scared, determined and unsure; one never can know which way this Queen will turn. Her personal evolution over the six years that are covered in the novel is natural, and in tune with the historical record. It can be hard to re-imagine such a prominent figure in English/Scottish history, but Blackadder is more than up to the task, as she proves with The Raven's Heart. Her Mary is just as engaging and compelling as that from more established writers, and can stand up to similar versions like the one Margaret George rendered in Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles. The latter may have been the first novel about this infamous queen I had read, but Blackadder proves she can match and improve on what has been printed before.The relationship between the two central female characters is the foundation of the novel and for much of Alison's actions throughout, and I found it refreshing to have two such varied, but strong, illustrations of women in a time when those few and far between.

Blackadder's personal history with the real-world lost castle that Alison maneuvers for adds another layer to an already fresh take on the story. I loved the historical facts mixed so seamlessly into the novel, but it was Alison's fictional plot about a real castle, one that the author has legitimate ties to, that captivated me the most during my read of The Raven's Heart. Alison and her quest are imagined, but they felt real while I was reading. I invested early with this character, and through her hurts and her far-too-few triumphs, I was always hoping for the best, if not expecting things to fall how I wanted. Blackadder doesn't necessarily end the story the way one would expect, and though the frequent back-and-forth nature during the last 100 pages made me slightly dizzy, I loved how the quest came to its fruition. I could've done without a few of the turnarounds - after the third, I stopped counting - but it was well worth the wait to see how it all fell to for Alison, her father, and her future.

A unique perspective, a well-drawn and realistic main character, an involving plot and a more than well-set scene make The Raven's Heart a welcome addition to the well-known story of Mary, Queen of Scots. A rather dense novel with easy and blunt prose, this is a book that will linger in my memory. I look forward to whatever else Jesse Blackadder does in the future with her considerable talent, and also to the future rereads and fun I will have with her historical fiction debut. ( )

Mary, Queen of Scots is one of those very intriguing figures in history. A woman, born to rule in a time when women were considered not much more than chattel. She was sent as a child to France to marry but her husband died and she was sent/invited back to Scotland to take up her crown. Was she wanted? Probably only to produce a male heir. But we will never know for sure. What we do know is that she felt entitled to the crown of England as well and factions there wanted her as she was Catholic and Elizabeth was Protestant. She is a woman about whom books could be written ad nauseum and people would read and be fascinated.

In this tale Ms. Blackadder uses her family's history as a starting point for a tale of loyalty, love and revenge. Young Robert Blackadder is the son of William, a man whose mother sent him away when the family castle was about to be raided by the powerful Hume clan. His mother knew he would be killed if he was found as there could be no heirs to the estate. William grows up bitter and vengeful about his family's loss having been constantly told he needs to get the castle back. When his relationship with the powerful Lord Bothwell causes it to be his ship that brings Mary back to Scotland William sees a way to perhaps get close to the Queen. Little does he realize that a Queen does not notice a shipowner.

The Queen does notice young Robert though but William feels that the Queen needs a lady in waiting more than a young boy so Robert - who has dressed as a boy - must return to being Alison. Alison, DAUGHTER of William who was disguised as a boy to hide her from Hume's assassins. The problem is Alison does not know how to be a girl. Her relatives teach her and she is soon off to be a lady in waiting to the Queen. There she is to get close to the Queen and gain back the family castle.

This is a somewhat long and involved book. The kind I really like to sink my teeth into but to try and break out the whole plot would take me 'til Monday. Just know that Alison's adventures truly begin once she starts to live in Mary's household. Alison is a complicated character - she is bisexual and changeable. I'm not completely sure she knows what she wants. She has lived her life in the shadow of her father's bitterness and goes into the shadow of a rather imperious woman in a dangerous court. She is never just Alison - she is, it seems, always someone's pawn. This leads to some frustration with the character. I suspect this is intentional on the part of Ms. Blackadder. Mary is also difficult but most Queens are....

The story plays out against the historical backdrop of the time using all the well documented points of Mary's life with Alison being present for all of them. The book was involving, action packed and entertaining. The last quarter of it was a bit like a tennis match though as the reader is whipped back and forth and back again as Alison learns the truth of her heritage and the ownership of Blackadder Castle is finally settled. ( )

I loved everything about this book. The plot, the places, the people (oh, the people!), the mood, the drama -- everything. I'm not even sure where to start with this gush-fest!

Blackadder's novel grew out of her research into her surname, and while normally family-inspired novels give me the gibblies, in this case, we all win. The historical Blackadders have a story straight out of an opera or Gothic tale: widow violently married off to a vicious noble, evil stepfather marries her daughters to his brothers, and subsequent Blackadders are all murdered before they can foment rebellion against him. In this climate, surviving Blackadder William is re-invented as a merchant sea captain and his daughter Alison -- the Blackadder heir -- is transformed into his nephew, Robert Blackadder.

The novel opens in 1561, with Alison-as-Robert on the ship that is bringing Mary Stuart aka Mary, Queen of Scots, to Scotland. Although Alison has grown used to living life as a boy, her father believes they can better push their cause if Alison becomes one of Mary's ladies-in-waiting, and Alison finds herself away from the comfortable identity (and clothes) she's familiar with and struggling to embody a sophisticated lady at court.

What could be a simple story of a girl-who-dresses-like-a-boy shenanigans -- a little sapphic longing, lots of court drama -- is actually a rather meaty, dense, and evocative historical novel of Mary Stuart's court and a woman's confusing place in it. When Alison's skill at passing for a boy is discovered, it becomes her greatest asset and one that grants her unusual access and power -- and of course, increased danger. While Alison's father is driven to reclaim Blackadder Castle, Alison finds herself more drawn to her Robert persona and all it entails -- right down to romance with women.

Blackadder (the author) created a fantastic main character in Alison/Robert -- I was there, from the first page to the last -- and I fell in love with the world she evoked. Royal court hist fic is not a favorite of mine, but through Alison/Robert, the reader sees a more robust view of 16th century Scotland -- the court and the life of the non-nobles. Being unfamiliar with this era, I can't say how accurate the events are represented, but in terms of pacing, narrative arc, and character development, I was immersed. I didn't want this book to end. ( )