Jacobite tale released on 300th anniversary of Flora MacDonald's birth

Three hundred years since the birth of Jacobite heroine Flora MacDonald in 1722, teacher and author Barbara Henderson is set to

 

release The Reluctant Rebel, an exciting children’s adventure novel

 

set against the background of the infamous ’45 rebellion.

 

Following the death of his father at the Battle of Prestonpans, Archie, stable boy and the titular reluctant rebel, is disillusioned with the Jacobite cause. The same cannot be said of his cousin Meg, a young embodiment of Flora’s spirit, who defends the cause and the

 

Prince passionately and courageously, risking death rather than removing her white cockade.

 

Bringing this popular period of Scotland’s history to life through the new and relatable eyes of her young protagonists, Henderson’s novel tells the tales of underlying heritage sites across the highlands with key dates and flourishes of Gaelic interwoven throughout the narrative.

 

By showing how the past leaps from the page to the landscape around them, The Reluctant Rebel shows its young Scottish readers that history is not just something that happens elsewhere: as Henderson puts it, ‘History is beneath our feet. The very soil is steeped in stories.'