A Childhood In Scotland (Canongate Classic, 23)

In this astonishingly beautiful little novel, which captures the sights, sounds and smells of 20th century Scotland, Christian Miller captures her lonely childhood growing up in a Castle in Scotland, a wealthy but at the same time deprived childhood. Having a cruel father, and a distant mother, and being the youngest child, Christian recounts in picturesque detail, the castle and the surrounding countryside in Scotland, her phenomenal experience of nature, her friendship with the ghosts that lived in the castle, and fear of the demons. A poignant portrait of a lonely child who used her imagination to try to make her young life whole, a deprived childhood in a wealthy household, Christian recounts how she was beaten while waiting for scraps of food outside the castle dining room. She makes several wry observations such as that the lessons given by her stern governess could have been made more interesting if when learning about the Napoleonic Wars, the children had been taught that Napoleon had surrendered to her great grandfather on her mother's side, and that Shakespeare may not have bored them had they known that they were descended on their father's side form Macbeth's victim , King Duncan . Beautifully written for adults and young readers aged 12 and up.

A Childhood in Scotland is a delightful and insightful book. Despite its size(90 pgs.), it is remarkably full of intriguing details of the author's castle itself and her adventures growing up within its walls. It seemed amazing to me that Christian had such a vivid recollection of her few short years there. Her writing clearly showed how much she loved the out of doors as opposed to the bleak, cold, impersonal life within the castle itself. With that in mind, it doesn't surprise me at all that at the age of 58 she took a bicycle ride from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. She had learned at a very early age that the outside world held many wonderful adventures for her. I do wish, however, that there could have been more information about her siblings and what became of them in their latter years. She did such an excellent job of recording and reporting about her childhood that I have been left with a strong desire to read more books about castles and the life of the people who lived in them. I plan to share this book with several of my friends and will undoubtedly give it as a gift to some of them. It was one of those books that makes the reader wish the final page would never come. My four star rating is only because of that fact - I wish it could have been longer.