Mountain Heather

Rating:
Summary: When She Was Good...
Review: ...She (Raife) was very, very good. And when she was bad, she was horrid! And, I am sorry to say, "Mountain Heather" is fairly horrid, from start to finish. The main character, Sally Buchanan, is a one-dimensional, self-centered, clueless birdbrain with a penchant for married men and an astounding disregard for the feelings of everybody around her. She is so unlikeable that I found it impossible to sympathise with her problems, or care what was going to happen next--which made finishing the book at all a real chore. The other characters-- from her nasty-but-supposed-to-be-wonderful Aunt Janey, to the hippie caricature Piers (complete with organic food and flute), to the younger sister who turns up out of the blue and has a married lover of her own, to the love interest, whose tragic accident is used as a blatant and insensitive plot device--are basically as one-dimensional and incomprehensible as Sally. None of these people reacts in any way that is believable, and the plot is too weak and feckless to sustain such a large number of cardboard characters. I'm so glad that I read Raife's wonderful books, such as "Wild Mountain Heather," before I picked up this one--or I never would have looked at another of her works. Read it at your own risk!

Rating:
Summary: When She Was Good...
Review: ...She (Raife) was very, very good. And when she was bad, she was horrid! And, I am sorry to say, "Mountain Heather" is fairly horrid, from start to finish. The main character, Sally Buchanan, is a one-dimensional, self-centered, clueless birdbrain with a penchant for married men and an astounding disregard for the feelings of everybody around her. She is so unlikeable that I found it impossible to sympathise with her problems, or care what was going to happen next--which made finishing the book at all a real chore. The other characters-- from her nasty-but-supposed-to-be-wonderful Aunt Janey, to the hippie caricature Piers (complete with organic food and flute), to the younger sister who turns up out of the blue and has a married lover of her own, to the love interest, whose tragic accident is used as a blatant and insensitive plot device--are basically as one-dimensional and incomprehensible as Sally. None of these people reacts in any way that is believable, and the plot is too weak and feckless to sustain such a large number of cardboard characters. I'm so glad that I read Raife's wonderful books, such as "Wild Mountain Heather," before I picked up this one--or I never would have looked at another of her works. Read it at your own risk!

Rating:
Summary: Should be classified as ¿fantasy¿ and not ¿romance¿.
Review: I was looking forward to reading this book because I had read her "Wild Highland Home" last year and really liked it because it was so different from the usual romance novels. This one was different too, but not in a way that I liked. I had to force myself to finish it, hoping for some satisfaction, but it was lame. Almost all of the main characters were saints, except of course our heroine, Sally, who needs a lot of work. I didn't like her at all. She takes up with 3 married men in a row as if it were no big deal. When her soul mate lover gets a bad break, she's outta there! She was weak and cowardly and selfish for nearly the entire book. And then when she finally starts to wake up, everyone in her life that she had kept at arm's length suddenly surges towards her ready to shower her with all this love they've been saving up for her. Now wouldn't that be nice, but I don't think that's anything like real life, not that the book is meant as a biography, but it was just too fantastical to imagine that people are all just waiting in the wings for you to get your life in order. I don't know if the author meant for each character to represent one quality, but I like my characters to be a mix of good and bad. Most of these people were saints, much too good to be true, and so not really worth examining. Was that why they were included in the book in the first place, to exemplify generosity and courage, etc. to help her grow up?

Rating:
Summary: This could have been much better.
Review: Raife's novel could have been much better. I felt cheated by the lack of emotional depth shown by this heroine who jumps into an adulterous affair with the first man she comes across. Then straining credibility we learn her long-lost sister is also involved with a married man. Finally, when Sally moves out on her own, she picks up with an old beau, also married. It gets to be a bit obsessive and I began to wonder if for Raife there is any other category of man. Either this author is trying to prove that adultery is commonplace or this is her own personal fetish. What saves the book is the development of her heroine's adolescent obsession with someone else's husband into a real relationship which requires her to grow and sacrifice herself for the man whose life has been destroyed.

Rating:
Summary: A mainstram modern day Scotland relationship drama
Review: Sally Buchanan has spent her entire life avoiding emotional entanglements. Thus, it is not shocking when she breaks an engagement and flees to her Aunt Janey's inn, Grianan, the only place that Sally has felt at home. On the way to the inn, Sally stops at her Aunt Ursula's home where she meets Mike Danaher, a married father of two. To her amazement, Sally begins to fall in love with Mike. Knowing that any relationship with him would be wrong, Sally completes her escape to Grianan.

However, Sally soon learns that life has a way of interceding on the tranquillity of individuals. Her aunt Janey is dying and Mike becomes perilously ill. Once again, Sally thinks of running away, but this time the magic of Grianan and love forces her to deal with the cards fate has dealt her.

No one does modern day, small town Scotland better than Alexandra Raife does. Her current novel brings to life the Highlands in a refreshing romance that will be cherished by fans of contemporary rural stories. The story line constantly is propelled forward by superbly drawn secondary players, but it is Sally, whose ability to disassociate is told with insight and warmth by Ms. Raife, that makes this book a wonderful reading experience. Like the author's previous romances, DRUMVEYN and WILD HIGHLAND HOME, MOUNTAIN HEATHER is a rich tale.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: More than just the story
Review: This novel was first published in the UK as "Grianan", the name of Sally's aunt's bed and breakfast inn. The previous reviews pretty much summarized the storyline, but I don't feel that the characters are at all one-dementional. Their inner struggles to determine what is right for themselves, while weighing the needs of those who depend on them, lead to some interesting character development. The common plot,that of the main character going back to the loving home of her childhood to heal and finding something she didn't know she was missing all along, may be trite, but no one can fault Raife's imagery in giving us a glimpse of the beautiful, natural world of the Scottish Highlands. A common thread in all of Raife's novels is the effort of the highlanders bring back what, over the centuries, was destroyed by the conquerers. They pool their resources to maintain their highland way of life in the face of encroaching civilization by developing an economic system in keeping with today's demands. Raife's characters tackle the problems of all ancient landed families in a modern economy--trying to preserve their ancestral homes and those of the locals who live on the estates by establishing various local industries to provide income for themselves and jobs for the community. They encourage a tourist economy by opening their estates for hunting, fishing,and hiking parties, establishing sheep farms, reforesting the highlands, and establishing cottage industries, all of which not only provide a means of preserving their own homes, but also provide jobs for the local populace who prefer staying in their ancestral homes to moving to the cities for jobs. In this framework, Raife's very human characters interact, develop and shine!

Rating:
Summary: More than just the story
Review: This novel was first published in the UK as "Grianan", the name of Sally's aunt's bed and breakfast inn. The previous reviews pretty much summarized the storyline, but I don't feel that the characters are at all one-dementional. Their inner struggles to determine what is right for themselves, while weighing the needs of those who depend on them, lead to some interesting character development. The common plot,that of the main character going back to the loving home of her childhood to heal and finding something she didn't know she was missing all along, may be trite, but no one can fault Raife's imagery in giving us a glimpse of the beautiful, natural world of the Scottish Highlands. A common thread in all of Raife's novels is the effort of the highlanders bring back what, over the centuries, was destroyed by the conquerers. They pool their resources to maintain their highland way of life in the face of encroaching civilization by developing an economic system in keeping with today's demands. Raife's characters tackle the problems of all ancient landed families in a modern economy--trying to preserve their ancestral homes and those of the locals who live on the estates by establishing various local industries to provide income for themselves and jobs for the community. They encourage a tourist economy by opening their estates for hunting, fishing,and hiking parties, establishing sheep farms, reforesting the highlands, and establishing cottage industries, all of which not only provide a means of preserving their own homes, but also provide jobs for the local populace who prefer staying in their ancestral homes to moving to the cities for jobs. In this framework, Raife's very human characters interact, develop and shine!

Rating:
Summary: More than just the story
Review: This novel was first published in the UK as "Grianan", the name of Sally's aunt's bed and breakfast inn. The previous reviews pretty much summarized the storyline, but I don't feel that the characters are at all one-dementional. Their inner struggles to determine what is right for themselves, while weighing the needs of those who depend on them, lead to some interesting character development. The common plot,that of the main character going back to the loving home of her childhood to heal and finding something she didn't know she was missing all along, may be trite, but no one can fault Raife's imagery in giving us a glimpse of the beautiful, natural world of the Scottish Highlands. A common thread in all of Raife's novels is the effort of the highlanders bring back what, over the centuries, was destroyed by the conquerers. They pool their resources to maintain their highland way of life in the face of encroaching civilization by developing an economic system in keeping with today's demands. Raife's characters tackle the problems of all ancient landed families in a modern economy--trying to preserve their ancestral homes and those of the locals who live on the estates by establishing various local industries to provide income for themselves and jobs for the community. They encourage a tourist economy by opening their estates for hunting, fishing,and hiking parties, establishing sheep farms, reforesting the highlands, and establishing cottage industries, all of which not only provide a means of preserving their own homes, but also provide jobs for the local populace who prefer staying in their ancestral homes to moving to the cities for jobs. In this framework, Raife's very human characters interact, develop and shine!

Rating:
Summary: A bit of a disappointment
Review: What I liked about Raife's first two books was that they were filled with hope. Her characters were imperfect people who matured, grew up, and otherwise became better people. This book was filled with one-dimensional characters -- curmudgeonly old aunt, shrewish ex-wife -- and I didn't like the use of a disability as a way of propelling the plot. Perhaps her next book will be better.

Rating:
Summary: No one does romance in Scotland better than Raife
Review: ~<p~ <p~ fans of contemporary rural stories. The story line constantly is propelled forward by superbly drawn secondary players, but it is Sally, whose ability to disassociate is told with insight and warmth by Ms. Raife, that makes this book a wonderful reading experience. Like the author's previous romances, DRUMVEYN and WILD HIGHLAND HOME, MOUNTAIN HEATHER is a rich tale.

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