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Jamie MacGillivray
Spanning 13 years, two continents, several wars, and many smoke-filled and bloody battlefields, John Sayles’s thrilling historical and cinematic epic invites comparison with Diana Gabaldon, George R. R. Martin, Phillippa Gregory, and Charles Dickens.
It begins in the highlands of Scotland in 1746, at the Battle of Culloden, the last desperate stand of the Stuart ‘pretender’ to the throne of the Three Kingdoms, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and his rabidly loyal supporters. Vanquished with his comrades by the forces of the Hanoverian (and Protestant) British crown, the novel’s eponymous hero, Jamie MacGillivray, narrowly escapes a roadside execution only to be recaptured by the victors and shipped to Marshalsea Prison (central to Charles Dickens’s Hard Times) where he cheats the hangman a second time before being sentenced to transportation and indentured servitude in colonial America "for the term of his natural life." His travels are paralleled by those of Jenny Ferguson, a poor, village girl swept up on false charges by the English and also sent in chains to the New World.
The novel follows Jamie and Jenny through servitude, revolt, escape, and romantic entanglements -- pawns in a deadly game. The two continue to cross paths with each other and with some of the leading figures of the era- the devious Lord Lovat, future novelist Henry Fielding, the artist William Hogarth, a young and ambitious George Washington, the doomed General James Wolfe, and the Lenape chief feared throughout the Ohio Valley as Shingas the Terrible.
It begins in the highlands of Scotland in 1746, at the Battle of Culloden, the last desperate stand of the Stuart ‘pretender’ to the throne of the Three Kingdoms, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and his rabidly loyal supporters. Vanquished with his comrades by the forces of the Hanoverian (and Protestant) British crown, the novel’s eponymous hero, Jamie MacGillivray, narrowly escapes a roadside execution only to be recaptured by the victors and shipped to Marshalsea Prison (central to Charles Dickens’s Hard Times) where he cheats the hangman a second time before being sentenced to transportation and indentured servitude in colonial America "for the term of his natural life." His travels are paralleled by those of Jenny Ferguson, a poor, village girl swept up on false charges by the English and also sent in chains to the New World.
The novel follows Jamie and Jenny through servitude, revolt, escape, and romantic entanglements -- pawns in a deadly game. The two continue to cross paths with each other and with some of the leading figures of the era- the devious Lord Lovat, future novelist Henry Fielding, the artist William Hogarth, a young and ambitious George Washington, the doomed General James Wolfe, and the Lenape chief feared throughout the Ohio Valley as Shingas the Terrible.
704 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2023
186 people are currently reading
3229 people want to read
About the author
John Sayles
89 books143 followersJohn Thomas Sayles is an independent film director, screenwriter, novelist and short story writer who frequently plays small roles in his own and other indie films.
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March 19, 2023Just out! WTR!! Ordered!!!
Saw this on friend Kevin Adams's Insta feed, and incredibly excited for two reasons:
1) It's John Sayles of Matewan, Lone Star, The Secret of Roan Inish etc, etc, fame, and though I have only read one of his novels, Los Gusanos, it was a huge fave. I've had a copy of his massive A Moment in the Sun sitting here, chiding me since it came out, but:
2) It's set (at least partly) in the 18th Century, and I love any film or book that attempts to recreate that period (most recently have massively enjoyed Stanley Kubrick's 1975 masterpiece, Barry Lyndon, and novel-wise, adored John Barth's The Sot-Weed Factor and greatly admired Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen.
Saw this on friend Kevin Adams's Insta feed, and incredibly excited for two reasons:
1) It's John Sayles of Matewan, Lone Star, The Secret of Roan Inish etc, etc, fame, and though I have only read one of his novels, Los Gusanos, it was a huge fave. I've had a copy of his massive A Moment in the Sun sitting here, chiding me since it came out, but:
2) It's set (at least partly) in the 18th Century, and I love any film or book that attempts to recreate that period (most recently have massively enjoyed Stanley Kubrick's 1975 masterpiece, Barry Lyndon, and novel-wise, adored John Barth's The Sot-Weed Factor and greatly admired Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen.
February 11, 2023
Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey by John Sayles, is one of the best books I have read when it comes to Scots and Culloden. Because, while there are have always been novels of what happened before and during, when the Pretender King finally comes to lead those that live on the land, Scots and all who fought with them, to get it back, essentially, at Culloden, the battle, all that led up to it and during; Sayles book talks about the journey a Scot made after, if they survived. Because many of them did. But, what happened to them? Readers can learn of the travesties that occurred because of surviving this loss, after, which became like the death of what was once their old life, losing all they had ever known. Because after Culloden, the Scots were changed forever. This book is the journey from all they once had and knew, what happened after losing it.
Many scenes contained within the pages were hard to read, heart wrenching what characters endured. Even those not main characters of the book, like the Old Fox, the chieftain of the Frasier clan. Their motto, Je suis prest, I am ready. While he is in the opening of the book, the old chieftain who never wanted to take a side, to fight with his Scots or the English, trying to play the fence to ensure that the Frasier clan, or at least he, remains after Culloden. Finally, pressed into choosing and, making the wrong choice, sealed, his fate given by being hung in England after imprisonment and trial. Like most Scots, unlike Jenny and Jamie, the main characters of the book, he does not survive to make the journey out of Scotland after Culloden. And, I don’t know whether those who had nothing after Culloden, lost their life in some way, because of Culloden, were better off than having to find a place in the world after the Scots lost all.
Because even a Scots woman who took part in no battle, committed no real crime to be punished for, like Jenny, her only real crime being living her life among all that went on in the country, living as a Scot in Scotland, when she is captured by the English she is charged and taken to England to meet her fate, whatever that may be. However, before this happens, the main characters, Jamie and Jenny, whose lives the book switches back and forth from meet, Jenny's father picking Jamie up after he is wounded in battle and didn’t think to survive. Had not her father picked Jamie up, surely he would have, the English running a sword through him. Thinking he will surely die, if not now, then soon after from the English catching him, Jamie gives Jenny his mother’s golden ring.
However, while Sayler has mainly let Jenny and Jamie’s life narrate most of the chapters in The Renegade’s Journey, at times, certain characters may sneak in and take up a chapter with something that is important to the story. Of course, the writer has had to let the Old Fox have some pages, when it is his turn to die. Whether to make the story better or give homage to the mighty, fierce man the Old Fox was, as he is about to meet the noose, while he is at the end of his imprisonment in England, being tried in the English court of law, readers get to be there with him. And, as he is stripped of his land, titles, possessions by the court of England, all of this taken from the blood of his blood, those that come of his genes after, he leaves the world stripped bare of everything, so sad I can almost cry now, just writing this.
Throughout the book Jenny does all she can to survive. However, her plight is nothing like Jamie’s who, when not dying by the noose after all the time he spends in an English prison, is taken to America to be a servant probably, for the rest of his days (even though indentured servitude was only supposed to last seven years, typically). But, when he escapes and
makes his way through land he knows nothing about, the small group he is with are caught by Indians. Once again Jamie finds himself in servitude after being won in an Indians poker game to another tribe, where he is treated more like an outsider, a woman outsider, than a slave. Not that if he tried to leave they wouldn’t kill him, as the Indians so easily seem to do. Brutal men, these natives, whose cultural differences are very evident in the novel. I don’t know if other readers, like me, will have a hard time understanding the reasoning behind some of the things that they do.
Not to say that they are not wise men, the Native Indians of America in the Renegade’s Journey. When it comes to the French and English, who are at war for the land Jamie happens to find himself on with the Lenape Indians he had been sold to after capture, they play both sides of the fence, not wanting either side to survive. Better to have white men under the ground than above. Whomever side they may represent, they have found, does not matter. All white men are dangerous to these Natives.
And, after some time Jamie manages to become one of the tribe members, having shown much worth with all the things he has done while he has been with them. Wanting to mention my favorite Jamie moment with the tribe, where the warrior in him is displayed, the hero who always does the right thing, activated…. I would rather readers experience this for themselves than have me ruin the moment, as there are many good ones in the book but this, one of my favorites. While I hate to tantalize and not tell, when Jamie seals his place with the tribe, what he does, the scene in the book, makes the whole book worth reading just to have found it, gotten to it. Readers need to discover it on their own, I want to steal no worthy part of the book with this review, with a spoiler that great.
Another scene, which drove me to tears, is when Jamie's recounts for the members of his Lenape tribe what it was like, the story of his people; Culloden, the role of the Pretender, what happened, all those who turned and betrayed them, what the English had done to the MacGillivaries before Culloden even, sealing the clan’s place with the Pretender(Jamie and his older brother, Dougal).
Readers should be able to feel, like I could, that the whole story will be sad when Jamie starts. And, that it speaks, in a sense, to the Native Indians in America, what will happen to them, in the future. It is as if they all know, as if a spirit is telling the Lenape, this man, Jamie, what he went through will be very much like what the white man will do to you. Because the Lenape see that Jamie is no ordinary white man, despised really, by others with the same skin as he (the English and French that are in the area).
One thing I will share, a spoiler alert here, for readers is when Jamie is tattooed by the Lenape. Jamie is made a part of the group, an honor which was never bestowed on some of the others attached to the group, like Jamie; but, these others, unable to achieve the same heights as the Scot (turned Lenape), with the things that they are able to provide the tribe with. As the Lenape put tattoos on his chest, James pictures the old soldiers he learned of (knowledge that was instilled during the college education, as the second son), of Roman soldiers from long ago, whom he had been told went into battle totally naked, their whole bodies tattooed from head to foot. Jamie sits, having no knowledge of what is to come regarding his appearance, and hopes the Natives quit with the two tattoos they are putting on his chest. Jamie’s account of this incident, however, is funny. No need to worry, as they do.
However some of Jamie’s internal thoughts, like these, while seeming so “otherworldly”, make you feel a part of the story, through the character. John Sayler has done an exceptional job with Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade’s Journey, with regards to the research he put into the time period of the novel, making readers feel as if the character is from that time period, spoke the actual words being said on the page, then.
Jenny, too, was made to come to America. Her journey, however different, ends around the same place where Jamie is, where there will be fighting with British and English soldiers over land they both want to occupy. Jamie, has no real reason to be with either side, nor really, do the Leape he lives with. Jenny herself has been with a French soldier for a long time, living as his mistress, enjoying a life better than the one she knew as Scotland. However, each moment spent, Jenny knows that her life depends on the good graces of St. Cyr, as long as he may live, even for as long as he wants to keep her as a mistress. After all, he does have a wife. Daily she is left to worry especially when she leaves as she goes to war with him. However, knowing Jenny, she would want to be by St. Cyr’s side. Whether to always remind him of her presence or make sure she still had it, Jenny’s life is still as fragile as Jamie’s, if not more so. Because she has less worth than he, even as a woman in a world surrounded by men. Especially men in battle.
The Renegades Journey is only the beginning of this new saga that starts when Culloden ends, as the Scots who remain, try to find any place in the world. This story of Jamie and Jenny, both Scots, is best defined by one of the scenes in the book. After Jamie has been captured in Scotland, imprisoned in England and almost hanged, transported to America as an indentured servant, escaping into the imprisonment with the Lenape, he is now one of them, one of the Natives of the land and, when the tribe goes to meet with French and English, both parties wanting them to join their side and fight, Jamie is in this mixed company, with all these people, from all over the world. As he is approached by another Native, from the Abenakis, his mixed Scot and now Native Indian features apparent, the man asks him not who he is but what he is. Even though spoken to in French, Jamie understands this difference better than he ever could. And, after reading much of this tale of woe, so do readers.
Because Jamie, he, himself, no longer knows who he is or what he is. Lost in the world, just as Jenny now is, deprived of all they knew, all of it gone from them forever, wondering now, what will become of them? This is their journey to answer that question. Readers won’t want to miss this heart wrenching tale of a personal loss so great that will make you wonder, like I, will they ever find something of the world for themselves, again? And, I wait on the edge of my seat for the next in the series, to find out if that question will ever be answered. This, just the beginning of what life was like after Culloden; if really all the Scots died there, if England had left those living just as dead figuratively, as those who had died in reality.
Happy Reading!
Many scenes contained within the pages were hard to read, heart wrenching what characters endured. Even those not main characters of the book, like the Old Fox, the chieftain of the Frasier clan. Their motto, Je suis prest, I am ready. While he is in the opening of the book, the old chieftain who never wanted to take a side, to fight with his Scots or the English, trying to play the fence to ensure that the Frasier clan, or at least he, remains after Culloden. Finally, pressed into choosing and, making the wrong choice, sealed, his fate given by being hung in England after imprisonment and trial. Like most Scots, unlike Jenny and Jamie, the main characters of the book, he does not survive to make the journey out of Scotland after Culloden. And, I don’t know whether those who had nothing after Culloden, lost their life in some way, because of Culloden, were better off than having to find a place in the world after the Scots lost all.
Because even a Scots woman who took part in no battle, committed no real crime to be punished for, like Jenny, her only real crime being living her life among all that went on in the country, living as a Scot in Scotland, when she is captured by the English she is charged and taken to England to meet her fate, whatever that may be. However, before this happens, the main characters, Jamie and Jenny, whose lives the book switches back and forth from meet, Jenny's father picking Jamie up after he is wounded in battle and didn’t think to survive. Had not her father picked Jamie up, surely he would have, the English running a sword through him. Thinking he will surely die, if not now, then soon after from the English catching him, Jamie gives Jenny his mother’s golden ring.
However, while Sayler has mainly let Jenny and Jamie’s life narrate most of the chapters in The Renegade’s Journey, at times, certain characters may sneak in and take up a chapter with something that is important to the story. Of course, the writer has had to let the Old Fox have some pages, when it is his turn to die. Whether to make the story better or give homage to the mighty, fierce man the Old Fox was, as he is about to meet the noose, while he is at the end of his imprisonment in England, being tried in the English court of law, readers get to be there with him. And, as he is stripped of his land, titles, possessions by the court of England, all of this taken from the blood of his blood, those that come of his genes after, he leaves the world stripped bare of everything, so sad I can almost cry now, just writing this.
Throughout the book Jenny does all she can to survive. However, her plight is nothing like Jamie’s who, when not dying by the noose after all the time he spends in an English prison, is taken to America to be a servant probably, for the rest of his days (even though indentured servitude was only supposed to last seven years, typically). But, when he escapes and
makes his way through land he knows nothing about, the small group he is with are caught by Indians. Once again Jamie finds himself in servitude after being won in an Indians poker game to another tribe, where he is treated more like an outsider, a woman outsider, than a slave. Not that if he tried to leave they wouldn’t kill him, as the Indians so easily seem to do. Brutal men, these natives, whose cultural differences are very evident in the novel. I don’t know if other readers, like me, will have a hard time understanding the reasoning behind some of the things that they do.
Not to say that they are not wise men, the Native Indians of America in the Renegade’s Journey. When it comes to the French and English, who are at war for the land Jamie happens to find himself on with the Lenape Indians he had been sold to after capture, they play both sides of the fence, not wanting either side to survive. Better to have white men under the ground than above. Whomever side they may represent, they have found, does not matter. All white men are dangerous to these Natives.
And, after some time Jamie manages to become one of the tribe members, having shown much worth with all the things he has done while he has been with them. Wanting to mention my favorite Jamie moment with the tribe, where the warrior in him is displayed, the hero who always does the right thing, activated…. I would rather readers experience this for themselves than have me ruin the moment, as there are many good ones in the book but this, one of my favorites. While I hate to tantalize and not tell, when Jamie seals his place with the tribe, what he does, the scene in the book, makes the whole book worth reading just to have found it, gotten to it. Readers need to discover it on their own, I want to steal no worthy part of the book with this review, with a spoiler that great.
Another scene, which drove me to tears, is when Jamie's recounts for the members of his Lenape tribe what it was like, the story of his people; Culloden, the role of the Pretender, what happened, all those who turned and betrayed them, what the English had done to the MacGillivaries before Culloden even, sealing the clan’s place with the Pretender(Jamie and his older brother, Dougal).
Readers should be able to feel, like I could, that the whole story will be sad when Jamie starts. And, that it speaks, in a sense, to the Native Indians in America, what will happen to them, in the future. It is as if they all know, as if a spirit is telling the Lenape, this man, Jamie, what he went through will be very much like what the white man will do to you. Because the Lenape see that Jamie is no ordinary white man, despised really, by others with the same skin as he (the English and French that are in the area).
One thing I will share, a spoiler alert here, for readers is when Jamie is tattooed by the Lenape. Jamie is made a part of the group, an honor which was never bestowed on some of the others attached to the group, like Jamie; but, these others, unable to achieve the same heights as the Scot (turned Lenape), with the things that they are able to provide the tribe with. As the Lenape put tattoos on his chest, James pictures the old soldiers he learned of (knowledge that was instilled during the college education, as the second son), of Roman soldiers from long ago, whom he had been told went into battle totally naked, their whole bodies tattooed from head to foot. Jamie sits, having no knowledge of what is to come regarding his appearance, and hopes the Natives quit with the two tattoos they are putting on his chest. Jamie’s account of this incident, however, is funny. No need to worry, as they do.
However some of Jamie’s internal thoughts, like these, while seeming so “otherworldly”, make you feel a part of the story, through the character. John Sayler has done an exceptional job with Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade’s Journey, with regards to the research he put into the time period of the novel, making readers feel as if the character is from that time period, spoke the actual words being said on the page, then.
Jenny, too, was made to come to America. Her journey, however different, ends around the same place where Jamie is, where there will be fighting with British and English soldiers over land they both want to occupy. Jamie, has no real reason to be with either side, nor really, do the Leape he lives with. Jenny herself has been with a French soldier for a long time, living as his mistress, enjoying a life better than the one she knew as Scotland. However, each moment spent, Jenny knows that her life depends on the good graces of St. Cyr, as long as he may live, even for as long as he wants to keep her as a mistress. After all, he does have a wife. Daily she is left to worry especially when she leaves as she goes to war with him. However, knowing Jenny, she would want to be by St. Cyr’s side. Whether to always remind him of her presence or make sure she still had it, Jenny’s life is still as fragile as Jamie’s, if not more so. Because she has less worth than he, even as a woman in a world surrounded by men. Especially men in battle.
The Renegades Journey is only the beginning of this new saga that starts when Culloden ends, as the Scots who remain, try to find any place in the world. This story of Jamie and Jenny, both Scots, is best defined by one of the scenes in the book. After Jamie has been captured in Scotland, imprisoned in England and almost hanged, transported to America as an indentured servant, escaping into the imprisonment with the Lenape, he is now one of them, one of the Natives of the land and, when the tribe goes to meet with French and English, both parties wanting them to join their side and fight, Jamie is in this mixed company, with all these people, from all over the world. As he is approached by another Native, from the Abenakis, his mixed Scot and now Native Indian features apparent, the man asks him not who he is but what he is. Even though spoken to in French, Jamie understands this difference better than he ever could. And, after reading much of this tale of woe, so do readers.
Because Jamie, he, himself, no longer knows who he is or what he is. Lost in the world, just as Jenny now is, deprived of all they knew, all of it gone from them forever, wondering now, what will become of them? This is their journey to answer that question. Readers won’t want to miss this heart wrenching tale of a personal loss so great that will make you wonder, like I, will they ever find something of the world for themselves, again? And, I wait on the edge of my seat for the next in the series, to find out if that question will ever be answered. This, just the beginning of what life was like after Culloden; if really all the Scots died there, if England had left those living just as dead figuratively, as those who had died in reality.
Happy Reading!
April 18, 2023
Begins with the Battle in Culloden and ends with the war between France and England in the New World (later called the French Indian War), with so much in-between.
We follow Jamie MacGillivray of Dunmaglas, and Jenny Ferguson of a crofter's home, just a young woman falsely accused of participating in the Jacobite uprising. Jamie, however, isn't quite so innocent but didn't participate in the battle (arriving late), although his older brother led a charge. The two meet just briefly, Jamie giving Jenny his mother's ring thinking he won't survive, but maybe she could use it when in need at some time.
They both get captured and sent to London prison for hanging, then somehow getting a reprieve on a slave ship to the new world. "Serve 7 years and you'll be free, but go back to England and you'll be hanged." Jenny is also sent on a slave ship, but hers end up liberated by a French privateer vessel and becomes a refugee, a free woman in Martinique. Although free she doesn't know anyone, the language nor has any money. Jenny must work, and is given to a French commander, who oversees the cannons on the island.
This is just barely the beginning. It is a long tale, but I don't think anything could have been cut out. It is well done, although I had somewhat of a trial with the Scottish accents printed on the page. After a while, I got used to it and the reading became easier. We also have a lot of untranslated French. My college French days came in handy, but occasionally had to use a translator to ensure I was getting everything being said.
I really enjoyed the way the ending brought around full-circle to what started in Scotland.
Many thanks to Melville House for sending me an advance review copy.
We follow Jamie MacGillivray of Dunmaglas, and Jenny Ferguson of a crofter's home, just a young woman falsely accused of participating in the Jacobite uprising. Jamie, however, isn't quite so innocent but didn't participate in the battle (arriving late), although his older brother led a charge. The two meet just briefly, Jamie giving Jenny his mother's ring thinking he won't survive, but maybe she could use it when in need at some time.
They both get captured and sent to London prison for hanging, then somehow getting a reprieve on a slave ship to the new world. "Serve 7 years and you'll be free, but go back to England and you'll be hanged." Jenny is also sent on a slave ship, but hers end up liberated by a French privateer vessel and becomes a refugee, a free woman in Martinique. Although free she doesn't know anyone, the language nor has any money. Jenny must work, and is given to a French commander, who oversees the cannons on the island.
This is just barely the beginning. It is a long tale, but I don't think anything could have been cut out. It is well done, although I had somewhat of a trial with the Scottish accents printed on the page. After a while, I got used to it and the reading became easier. We also have a lot of untranslated French. My college French days came in handy, but occasionally had to use a translator to ensure I was getting everything being said.
I really enjoyed the way the ending brought around full-circle to what started in Scotland.
Many thanks to Melville House for sending me an advance review copy.
March 4, 2023
I have been a fan of John Sayles films for decades --- from classics like Matewan, Lone Star, and The Secret Of Roan Inish. He is an actor, director, and twice-nominated screenplay writer with the Academy Awards. With the release of his latest novel, JAMIE MACGILLIVRAY: The Renegade’s Journey, he has obviously brought all of his cinematic talents to the forefront with an epic work of historical fiction that never fails to entertain and enthrall the reader.
At nearly 700 pages in length, this novel is a mighty large pill to swallow. Add to that the challenging language utilized by most of the characters, which reads like a foreign film at times, and you have a dense work that is only for true fans of Scottish or historical fiction set in Europe. However, if you are a fan of the Outlander series from Diana Gabaldon or classic films like Braveheart or Brigadoon, you should fare well. This is a Scottish based novel of the highest order and remains true to that style from beginning to end.
The action starts in the year 1746 and spans over thirteen years and a couple of continents. When we first meet our protagonist, Jamie MacGillivray, he is in the Scottish Highlands and participating in the legendary Battle of Culloden. Jamie is part of a rebellious troop that is battling against the man they label the ‘pretender’ to the throne of the United Kingdom --- the Bonnie Prince Charlie. Jamie is referred to by his mates as ‘another young man gone a king-making’. Jamie will prove to them that he is made of tougher stuff when he is shot straight through his body in the skirmish and survives with little to no suffering. It is as if he was destined to survive and make a name for himself in the new world.
Being such a large novel, we have a parallel story to enjoy along with Jamie’s, that of the young woman named Jenny Ferguson. In fact, their two narratives will rival each other in such a way that it almost seems to be pre-destined. She and Jamie meet early on in the story and she tells him that she knows his brother. A fateful meeting it will turn out to be before this tale is through. Jenny will find herself brought up on false charges in the wake of the Battle of Culloden about the same time that the injured Jamie finds himself captured and placed upon a ship bound for England. This is just prior to the determination both of them will share --- sentenced to indentured servitude in colonial America.
Those who were captured along with Jamie see his recovery from the gunshot wound as a minor miracle and a tribute to the self-healing powers of the human body and spirit. It will also go far in the start of Jamie MacGillivray being mentioned as a heralded Scottish figure. Jamie proves to be a well-spoken and intelligent character, which makes him prove worthy of admiration and fellowship. He is able to look at the situation and balance of power in his world and comment: ‘…with such a raggle-taggle of an Empire, dozens of people and tongues that they speak, alliances here and ancient feuds there, as mony enemies as ye’ve got borders, ye never ken when you’ll be dragged into a dispute that leads tae full-oot war.’
Arriving in chains in the ‘New World’, Jamie has to navigate allegiances between not only the British and French but also the indigenous Native American population. Part of the history of this new nation is detailed by Sayles with his depiction of the Lenape Nation, a tribe that Jamie will endear himself to so much that he is permanently branded as a member --- a badge of honor he proudly wears. The second half of the novel which outlines his time with the Lenape will dive deep into the history of this great nation and their battles throughout the Ohio Territory. Readers will also be able to marvel at the appearance of famous historical figures such as General George Washington, General James Wolfe, and the feared leader of the Lenape tribe, Shingas the Terrible.
Jenny Ferguson’s own adventures, though not directly paralleling those of Jamie, will also see her in the New World where she must assume and wear multiple hats like mistress, wife, and bride of Christ all the while escaping her own fated demise at the end of a gallows rope. She is a heroine of the highest degree and could very easily have carried her own individual story in a tale named Jenny Ferguson as opposed to sharing time with Jamie MacGillivray. It is the combination of the two Scottish warriors that make this novel a true love letter to the people of the Scottish Highlands and their mighty spirit.
As grand a scale as JAMIE MACGILLIVRAY is, it purports to be just the start of his tale. I can only hope that John Sayles has much more in him for both Jamie and Jenny --- even in the form of a prequel. This work is Dickensian in scope and one that only the indomitable John Sayles could have created.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
At nearly 700 pages in length, this novel is a mighty large pill to swallow. Add to that the challenging language utilized by most of the characters, which reads like a foreign film at times, and you have a dense work that is only for true fans of Scottish or historical fiction set in Europe. However, if you are a fan of the Outlander series from Diana Gabaldon or classic films like Braveheart or Brigadoon, you should fare well. This is a Scottish based novel of the highest order and remains true to that style from beginning to end.
The action starts in the year 1746 and spans over thirteen years and a couple of continents. When we first meet our protagonist, Jamie MacGillivray, he is in the Scottish Highlands and participating in the legendary Battle of Culloden. Jamie is part of a rebellious troop that is battling against the man they label the ‘pretender’ to the throne of the United Kingdom --- the Bonnie Prince Charlie. Jamie is referred to by his mates as ‘another young man gone a king-making’. Jamie will prove to them that he is made of tougher stuff when he is shot straight through his body in the skirmish and survives with little to no suffering. It is as if he was destined to survive and make a name for himself in the new world.
Being such a large novel, we have a parallel story to enjoy along with Jamie’s, that of the young woman named Jenny Ferguson. In fact, their two narratives will rival each other in such a way that it almost seems to be pre-destined. She and Jamie meet early on in the story and she tells him that she knows his brother. A fateful meeting it will turn out to be before this tale is through. Jenny will find herself brought up on false charges in the wake of the Battle of Culloden about the same time that the injured Jamie finds himself captured and placed upon a ship bound for England. This is just prior to the determination both of them will share --- sentenced to indentured servitude in colonial America.
Those who were captured along with Jamie see his recovery from the gunshot wound as a minor miracle and a tribute to the self-healing powers of the human body and spirit. It will also go far in the start of Jamie MacGillivray being mentioned as a heralded Scottish figure. Jamie proves to be a well-spoken and intelligent character, which makes him prove worthy of admiration and fellowship. He is able to look at the situation and balance of power in his world and comment: ‘…with such a raggle-taggle of an Empire, dozens of people and tongues that they speak, alliances here and ancient feuds there, as mony enemies as ye’ve got borders, ye never ken when you’ll be dragged into a dispute that leads tae full-oot war.’
Arriving in chains in the ‘New World’, Jamie has to navigate allegiances between not only the British and French but also the indigenous Native American population. Part of the history of this new nation is detailed by Sayles with his depiction of the Lenape Nation, a tribe that Jamie will endear himself to so much that he is permanently branded as a member --- a badge of honor he proudly wears. The second half of the novel which outlines his time with the Lenape will dive deep into the history of this great nation and their battles throughout the Ohio Territory. Readers will also be able to marvel at the appearance of famous historical figures such as General George Washington, General James Wolfe, and the feared leader of the Lenape tribe, Shingas the Terrible.
Jenny Ferguson’s own adventures, though not directly paralleling those of Jamie, will also see her in the New World where she must assume and wear multiple hats like mistress, wife, and bride of Christ all the while escaping her own fated demise at the end of a gallows rope. She is a heroine of the highest degree and could very easily have carried her own individual story in a tale named Jenny Ferguson as opposed to sharing time with Jamie MacGillivray. It is the combination of the two Scottish warriors that make this novel a true love letter to the people of the Scottish Highlands and their mighty spirit.
As grand a scale as JAMIE MACGILLIVRAY is, it purports to be just the start of his tale. I can only hope that John Sayles has much more in him for both Jamie and Jenny --- even in the form of a prequel. This work is Dickensian in scope and one that only the indomitable John Sayles could have created.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
March 9, 2023
So the blurb of this book said if you like Diana Gabaldon, Philippa Gregory, George R.R. Martin, then you will like this book. I am fans of all of those so I grabbed an ARC. I will say that this book is similar to Outlander but remove all of the romance. I like historical books, but I also like romance with my historical. So this book is about Jamie MacGillivray, as the title so accurately states. He is Scottish and this takes place after Culloden. Jamie is sent to the colonies as a slave with other Scots as well. Now we get into the French Indian War. Jamie escapes the British only to be captured by Indians and now he is thrown into another war. This book is descriptive and quite gruesome, which is where it is like A Game of Thrones. There is a lot of history in this book and many characters. There is also a lot of French which I did not enjoy because I do not know French and I did not want to get out a translator every time conversations were happening. So that was annoying. It was difficult enough trying to figure out the Scots speaking English. Overall I liked it. I believe the author said this will be a series so we will see how Jamie's adventure will continue.
-"...and the French become distracted-"
"They're difficult enough when you've got their full attention."
-"Excellent manners, the English, when they're not invading your homeland."
-"...and the French become distracted-"
"They're difficult enough when you've got their full attention."
-"Excellent manners, the English, when they're not invading your homeland."
February 28, 2023
John Sayles gives us a modern take on the 18th/19th century adventure novel: think Dumas or Defoe with a 21st century sensibility. As history, Sayles draws a clear line of English (and, to a lesser degree, French) empiric brutality from Scotland in the 1740's to the new American islands and colonies during the Seven Years War. Along the way he shows (never tells) the impact of English - French competition on Enslaved Africans, Native American populations, European refugees (Acadians, Quakers, Germans, Huguenots, Scots-Irish), and "mainstream" colonists. Our hero finds himself comparing Native tribal conflicts to European wars of royal succession: both are mind-numbingly complicated and seemingly trivial.
But this is an adventure story; the history provides a backdrop and a sense of the stakes our characters are playing for, but it never becomes THE story. No, the story is a breakneck tour of the Atlantic world in the mid 18th century: privateers, Highland rogues, London prisons and corruption, Parisien Jacobin society, French-creole society in Martinique, Acadians in Hallifax, southern enslavers, shipboard deprivation, native Americans, stupid English armies marching lockstep to destruction in the Appalachian wilderness, German colonial farmers, French convents, and a genuine Scottish bard who ends up singing in Shawnee. It's great.
The plot: lots of daring, death-defying escapes, battles large and small, gallows, heroic last stands, torture, drawing & quartering, the near-miraculous capture of Quebec, and a whole bunch of other similar stuff. The story never drags. The characters are almost all believable human beings, mostly just trying to navigate a perilous world as best they can.
Of course John Sayles writes cinematically; he probably can't help it. The story is largely told in dialogue, and there is plenty of dialect, but never enough to slow down one's reading. The scenes are essentially blocked out. There are no deep internal monologues or authorial social commentary - it's Dumas or Stevenson,
not Dickens or Trollope.
Highly recommended.
But this is an adventure story; the history provides a backdrop and a sense of the stakes our characters are playing for, but it never becomes THE story. No, the story is a breakneck tour of the Atlantic world in the mid 18th century: privateers, Highland rogues, London prisons and corruption, Parisien Jacobin society, French-creole society in Martinique, Acadians in Hallifax, southern enslavers, shipboard deprivation, native Americans, stupid English armies marching lockstep to destruction in the Appalachian wilderness, German colonial farmers, French convents, and a genuine Scottish bard who ends up singing in Shawnee. It's great.
The plot: lots of daring, death-defying escapes, battles large and small, gallows, heroic last stands, torture, drawing & quartering, the near-miraculous capture of Quebec, and a whole bunch of other similar stuff. The story never drags. The characters are almost all believable human beings, mostly just trying to navigate a perilous world as best they can.
Of course John Sayles writes cinematically; he probably can't help it. The story is largely told in dialogue, and there is plenty of dialect, but never enough to slow down one's reading. The scenes are essentially blocked out. There are no deep internal monologues or authorial social commentary - it's Dumas or Stevenson,
not Dickens or Trollope.
Highly recommended.
September 12, 2023
Enormously entertaining ride through the mid-18th century. We start at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, where the Highlanders supporting Bonnie Prince Charles are defeated by the British, and yes, I had to do a ton of Googling for the first 100 pages. After a bit of a slow start, though, the titular renegade is transported to America, and that's the true heart and glory of the novel. Jamie is sold as an indentured servant, escapes, is captured by Indians, and eventually is embroiled in the French and Indian War. Sayles moves things along breathlessly and confidently, making the reader feel at all times what a bloody dangerous place the past was. There are a few too many cameos from historical personages (I could have done without the intrusion of Henry Fielding, but the depiction of George Washington as a callow 20 year old is pretty great). The novel culminates at a huge battle in Quebec, where Sayles somehow skillfully manages to corral all his characters. Very fun stuff.
April 20, 2023
A well done historical epic starting with the Battle of Culloden and ending on the Plains of Abraham. Could have used some serious editing and the written Scottish dialect and untranslated French slowed the reading process perhaps unnecessarily. But overall worth the length and linguistic hurdles
June 25, 2023
It took me a bit to get into the rhythm of the story since it started smack in the middle of the Battle of Culloden without any preamble. I thoroughly enjoyed Jamie's and Jenny's stories of life after being captured as traitors after the battle despite not having fought in it. Both were condemned to transportation to the colonies but had very different paths. Although it started as Scottish historical fiction, it became a story of the growing American colonies with the struggles of slavery, Native American relations and the territory battles with the French. Definitely recommended.
March 27, 2023
What a great read!
4.5 ⭐️
4.5 ⭐️
January 10, 2023
What a ride this book is! Ranging from the Battle of Culloden, pitting the Scottish Jacobites against the British, to the Americas, this is a big, long, wide-ranging historical novel. Jamie MacGillivray, the title character, just misses Culloden, but is captured, imprisoned, and sent to the colonies by the British. Jennie, a woman he briefly encounters in the Highlands before he is captured, is also captured and sent to the colonies. Jennie lands in Martinique and becomes the mistress of a French lieutenant and planter; Jamie ends up in the American south, then escapes, only to be captured by the Lenape. Their paths cross again near the end of the war, as their fortunes have changed. It's tough to sum up a 700 page book; I learned a lot about the French and Indian War, and enjoyed the adventures and misadventures of both main characters, as well as the secondary characters, both European and indigenous.
Recommended for lovers of American history of the 18th century.
Recommended for lovers of American history of the 18th century.
March 13, 2025
700 pages of total blissful immersion into another world.
April 29, 2023
If you are a fan of Ken Follet and other practitioners of well-developed historical fiction in books that weigh a great deal then screenwriter and director John Sayles’ latest work THE RENEGADE’S JOURNEY: JAMIE MacGILLIVARY is one you should seriously consider. Sayles, the author of YELLOW EARTH and A MOMENT IN THE SUN now tackles the adventures of two fictional 18th century Scots – the main character is Jamie MacGillivary, a landless follower of Bonnie Prince Charlie, and Jenny Ferguson, a poor crofter’s daughter swept up in the avenging British against the Jacobite Rebellion. The two characters dominate and leave historical figures such as Generals George Washington, James Wolfe, Robert Monckton, James Braddock, and the Marquis de Montcalm in the background as Sayles captures the competing alliances of the mid-18th century and the horrors of war through the trials and travails of Jamie and Jenny.
Sayles frames his novel with the Battles at Culloden in Scotland and the Plains of Abraham in Quebec, Jamie and Jenny will find themselves imprisoned under demeaning conditions and sent into indentured servitude in the English colonies. From there their lives will diverge before they come together later in the novel.
However, Sayles will first engage the reader with the details of the Battle of Culloden, a nasty confrontation that saw the British rout a Jacobite* army of Highlanders, Irish, Scots in the French service and English deserters, a rather difficult group to herd together as a formidable force. The army was created to support the claims of Bonnie Prince Charlie, so named for his boyish good looks who was the grandson of the exiled English King, James II who was removed during the Glorious Revolution and was replaced by William and Mary on the English throne. His father, James III, known as the “Old Pretender” in exile and in September 1745 his son, the would be Charles IV landed with a small army on the west coast of Scotland and with 2400 men entered Edinburgh. Within two months with 5500 men, he crossed into England and headed toward London. However, on April 16, 1746, the third son of King George II, the Duke of Cumberland defeated this rag tag army at Culloden. The “Young Pretender” would escape by ship to France where he would continue to try and recover the English crown for his father and himself.
The main protagonists will find themselves in desperate situations. Jamie was wounded and survived under a pile of bodies before being captured by the Redcoats, and later by Native-Americans. He would meet Jenny, who had been beaten and raped by British soldiers as they are separately sent to the English colonies. Sayles describes Jenny’s plight as she is sent to Martinique where she is purchased by a French artillery officer, Lt. St. Cyr who will take her under his wing as his lover and friend showing off a white woman in Creole society. Later, St. Cyr is ordered to Canada to fight the British, taking Jenny with him. Jamie finds himself a slave on the Georgia plantation of Jock Crozier, a nasty individual that results in Jamie and his slave cohorts escaping, only to be captured by the Lenape tribe where he is put to work. Sayles uses Jamie as a vehicle to explain the shifting alliances in Europe as Hapsburg Emperor Charles VI issues the Pragmatic Sanction to gain support for his daughter, Maria Theresa, to succeed him on the throne. At first, Frederick the Great of Prussia agrees then conquers Silesia, and the result is the beginning of the Seven Years War in Europe in 1756, a continuation of the French and Indian War in the colonies between France and England that began in 1754. The situation lends itself to Sayles’ entertaining phrasing as Native-Americans describe negotiations in Europe as “old men wearing other men’s hair while they dicker over a treaty across the great water.” (328) The key in the colonies is the Ohio Valley which the French and English desire for the Fur trade and military outposts. As English colonists in Pennsylvania and Virginia want to move west this presents the French with the opportunity to ally with Native tribes.
In telling his story Sayles has the marvelous ability to create scenes whereby it feels as if the reader has an intimate relationship with the main characters. His description of the Atlantic passage and enslavement in the Caribbean and the English colonies mirrors the historical record. It is clear that Sayles has engaged in prodigious research and travel to the sites he has written about which allow him to convey intimate details of battle, treatment of prisoners, life on a plantation, interacting with Native tribes, and how his characters experience misfortune and at times luck as Jamie realizes how lucky he is to be alive as he states, “a French invasion scuttled by storms at sea, a bullet made to cripple or kill him only passes through his flesh, the whim of a bewigged magistrate on the day before hanging – all seems more accident than design.” (243)
Sayles creates a series of characters, but there are a number who are key to the story. Apart from Jamie and Jenny there is Macheod Lachlan, a bard whose mission in life is to amuse his clan brethren. His goal in life is to entertain all who come in contact with him. There is Keach, an evangelical Christian who spots the glories of God as he tries to convert everyone. Jamie’s brother Dougal, thought dead at Culloden, miraculously survives, and Ange, who develops a loving relationship with Jamie. Numerous characters come and go. Some disappear for hundreds of pages then all of a sudden reemerge.
Jamie must have passed through an identity crisis as at the outset of the novel he is portrayed as a Highland Scotsman fighting with the French against the British. He is captured and sold as a slave in Georgia. Later he is taken in by the Lenape Indians whose tribe he will eventually become a trusted member. Jamie’s life mirrors the wars that are described throughout. First, the British and French fight in Scotland. Then the fighting moves on to the Ohio Valley in the American colonies. As the fighting shifts across the Atlantic, both powers try to convince various Indian tribes to join their crusades. White settlers are seen by Native-Americans as squatters stealing Indian land resulting in extreme violence. Lastly, the French and British find themselves fighting different Indian tribes. As Sayles describes the many conflicts we witness guerilla and conventional warfare which at times produces modern weaponry such as long range artillery.
As the novel follows Jamie and Jenny through servitude, revolt, escape, and romantic entanglements — pawns in a deadly game other historical figures of the era appear - the devious Lord Lovat, future novelist Henry Fielding, the artist William Hogarth, a young and ambitious George Washington, the doomed General James Wolfe, and the Lenape chief feared throughout the Ohio Valley as Shingas the Terrible.
Sayles is an excellent wordsmith; however, it does take time to adapt to the Erse, a Scottish or Irish Gaelic language as well as the French phrasing which appears regularly. Sayles does this to create authenticity, but at times it detracts from the reading experience and makes it difficult at times to follow what is occurring.
*Jacobite’s were the supporters of James VII of Scotland and II of England. Jacobus is Latin for James.
Sayles frames his novel with the Battles at Culloden in Scotland and the Plains of Abraham in Quebec, Jamie and Jenny will find themselves imprisoned under demeaning conditions and sent into indentured servitude in the English colonies. From there their lives will diverge before they come together later in the novel.
However, Sayles will first engage the reader with the details of the Battle of Culloden, a nasty confrontation that saw the British rout a Jacobite* army of Highlanders, Irish, Scots in the French service and English deserters, a rather difficult group to herd together as a formidable force. The army was created to support the claims of Bonnie Prince Charlie, so named for his boyish good looks who was the grandson of the exiled English King, James II who was removed during the Glorious Revolution and was replaced by William and Mary on the English throne. His father, James III, known as the “Old Pretender” in exile and in September 1745 his son, the would be Charles IV landed with a small army on the west coast of Scotland and with 2400 men entered Edinburgh. Within two months with 5500 men, he crossed into England and headed toward London. However, on April 16, 1746, the third son of King George II, the Duke of Cumberland defeated this rag tag army at Culloden. The “Young Pretender” would escape by ship to France where he would continue to try and recover the English crown for his father and himself.
The main protagonists will find themselves in desperate situations. Jamie was wounded and survived under a pile of bodies before being captured by the Redcoats, and later by Native-Americans. He would meet Jenny, who had been beaten and raped by British soldiers as they are separately sent to the English colonies. Sayles describes Jenny’s plight as she is sent to Martinique where she is purchased by a French artillery officer, Lt. St. Cyr who will take her under his wing as his lover and friend showing off a white woman in Creole society. Later, St. Cyr is ordered to Canada to fight the British, taking Jenny with him. Jamie finds himself a slave on the Georgia plantation of Jock Crozier, a nasty individual that results in Jamie and his slave cohorts escaping, only to be captured by the Lenape tribe where he is put to work. Sayles uses Jamie as a vehicle to explain the shifting alliances in Europe as Hapsburg Emperor Charles VI issues the Pragmatic Sanction to gain support for his daughter, Maria Theresa, to succeed him on the throne. At first, Frederick the Great of Prussia agrees then conquers Silesia, and the result is the beginning of the Seven Years War in Europe in 1756, a continuation of the French and Indian War in the colonies between France and England that began in 1754. The situation lends itself to Sayles’ entertaining phrasing as Native-Americans describe negotiations in Europe as “old men wearing other men’s hair while they dicker over a treaty across the great water.” (328) The key in the colonies is the Ohio Valley which the French and English desire for the Fur trade and military outposts. As English colonists in Pennsylvania and Virginia want to move west this presents the French with the opportunity to ally with Native tribes.
In telling his story Sayles has the marvelous ability to create scenes whereby it feels as if the reader has an intimate relationship with the main characters. His description of the Atlantic passage and enslavement in the Caribbean and the English colonies mirrors the historical record. It is clear that Sayles has engaged in prodigious research and travel to the sites he has written about which allow him to convey intimate details of battle, treatment of prisoners, life on a plantation, interacting with Native tribes, and how his characters experience misfortune and at times luck as Jamie realizes how lucky he is to be alive as he states, “a French invasion scuttled by storms at sea, a bullet made to cripple or kill him only passes through his flesh, the whim of a bewigged magistrate on the day before hanging – all seems more accident than design.” (243)
Sayles creates a series of characters, but there are a number who are key to the story. Apart from Jamie and Jenny there is Macheod Lachlan, a bard whose mission in life is to amuse his clan brethren. His goal in life is to entertain all who come in contact with him. There is Keach, an evangelical Christian who spots the glories of God as he tries to convert everyone. Jamie’s brother Dougal, thought dead at Culloden, miraculously survives, and Ange, who develops a loving relationship with Jamie. Numerous characters come and go. Some disappear for hundreds of pages then all of a sudden reemerge.
Jamie must have passed through an identity crisis as at the outset of the novel he is portrayed as a Highland Scotsman fighting with the French against the British. He is captured and sold as a slave in Georgia. Later he is taken in by the Lenape Indians whose tribe he will eventually become a trusted member. Jamie’s life mirrors the wars that are described throughout. First, the British and French fight in Scotland. Then the fighting moves on to the Ohio Valley in the American colonies. As the fighting shifts across the Atlantic, both powers try to convince various Indian tribes to join their crusades. White settlers are seen by Native-Americans as squatters stealing Indian land resulting in extreme violence. Lastly, the French and British find themselves fighting different Indian tribes. As Sayles describes the many conflicts we witness guerilla and conventional warfare which at times produces modern weaponry such as long range artillery.
As the novel follows Jamie and Jenny through servitude, revolt, escape, and romantic entanglements — pawns in a deadly game other historical figures of the era appear - the devious Lord Lovat, future novelist Henry Fielding, the artist William Hogarth, a young and ambitious George Washington, the doomed General James Wolfe, and the Lenape chief feared throughout the Ohio Valley as Shingas the Terrible.
Sayles is an excellent wordsmith; however, it does take time to adapt to the Erse, a Scottish or Irish Gaelic language as well as the French phrasing which appears regularly. Sayles does this to create authenticity, but at times it detracts from the reading experience and makes it difficult at times to follow what is occurring.
*Jacobite’s were the supporters of James VII of Scotland and II of England. Jacobus is Latin for James.
July 12, 2023
This book is just shy of 700 pages of historical fiction set in Scotland and the American colonies in the mid 1700s. Don't bother if you're not interested. For those nerds like me who are really care, though, this book is engaging, thrilling, and shocking, and inspiring. Most books about the American colonies are British-centered. This novel features Scottish main characters who are transported to the colonies for their involvement in Bonnie Price Charlie's attempt to take over the British throne. They hate the British and ally with the French and Indians. Mostly, they just try to survive and not disappear, along with their First American counterparts. Thanks to the bold writing of John Sayles, they live on.
February 23, 2024
From Culloden to the Plains of Abraham
This book tells the story of a Scots man and woman transported to the New World after the defeat of the Jacobite Rebellion. Jaime and Jenny experience the tumultuous events that transformed the American colonies and Canada during a crucial period in the history of both nations.
This book tells the story of a Scots man and woman transported to the New World after the defeat of the Jacobite Rebellion. Jaime and Jenny experience the tumultuous events that transformed the American colonies and Canada during a crucial period in the history of both nations.
December 26, 2022
Snagged an advance copy. HOLY HELL this thing rules.
March 4, 2024
Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegades’ Journey (2022)
By John Sayles
Melville House, 696 pages.
★★★
If you have seen a John Sayles film, you know that he's a riveting storyteller. He's not as strong as a novelist, but he certainly brings raconteur sensibilities to the page. His
latest literary protagonist is Scottish. Jamie MacGillivray is a sprawling novel that begins in 1754, during Scotland’s disastrous Battle of Culloden.
The buildup to Culloden is complicated. In brief, England had become a Protestant nation under King VIII. In 1603, King James Stuart VI of Scotland became King James I of England and merged the two countries. Alas, future Stuart monarchs were inept, one was executed, and the openly Catholic James II was deposed in 1688. Many Catholic Highland Scots found a champion in “Bonnie Prince” Charles Stuart. His return from France in 1745 rallied them, but the dreams of a Stuart restoration died at Culloden where his forces were routed by English and pro-English Scottish troops led by the Duke of Cumberland.
Many history books move on at that point, but for Jamie MacGillivray, the combatants that survived, and those who got in the way, the page turned to new tragedies. English subjugation of Scotland was brutal. Untold numbers of Scots were thrown into filthy prisons to await “trials,” though guilt was often predetermined and the only question was: execution or deportation? Even that was sometimes settled by lottery.
Jamie was educated in the law in France, spoke several languages, and didn't actually bear arms but he was an unrepentant patriot, which was enough to warrant hanging. I won't say how he avoided it, but he is exiled. That was also the fate of Jenny Ferguson, a lovely lass seized after Culloden for the crime of being poor and suspicious. She was clamped in chains and thrown into a creaky ship whose voyage was marked by sickness and deprivation. Before Sayles’ long novel concludes, readers will visit numerous overseas colonies. Sayles has long been a champion of the underdog, thus Jamie and Jenny are strong personalities. Both, however, undergo adapt-or-perish challenges, which isn’t the same thing as triumphing.
The story of North American colonies is just as complicated as deciphering the Battle of Culloden. Scotland's “Auld Alliance” with France was played out in North America among the French, the English, exiles like Jamie, Indians, German immigrants, and African slaves. The novel bounces from Scotland and the Caribbean to Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, the contested Ohio Valley, and Lower Canada (now Quebec). Jamie’s deepening anti-English zealotry will eventually carry him to Quebec City’s Plains of Abraham. There, in 1759, General Wolfe’s troops subdued those of General Montcalm, thereby placing French Canada fell under English control. (It was an episode in what got labeled the French and Indian War.)
Believe me when I say this is a mere skeletal outline of Jamie MacGillivray. In many ways Jenny’s tale is even more remarkable, a series of unexpected rises and setbacks depending on the fate of her paramours of the moment. “Moment” is the right word at a time in which fortune and life were contingent upon forces beyond the control of those caught up in them.
There was much to like about Jamie MacGillivray. Sayles did his homework and makes history come alive in small details that seldom appear elsewhere. If his were a nonfiction book, we’d call it history from the bottom up. As a novel, though, Sayles populates it with all manner of colorful characters. The Scots run the gamut from pious to ribald, and from from plebeian poets to savage warriors. Even the warriors pale in comparison to Lenape leader Shingas the Terrible, a real person.
This is not the literary equivalent of an action movie. Sayles’ characters often speak in dialect and slip into and out of English, Gaelic, French, and native languages. Sayles gives enough clues to get the gist of the dialog, but he seldom translates. I don't think he's showing off, but I do believe he got so immersed that he often demands too much from readers. Overall, Jamie MacGillivray could have benefitted from a stern developmental editor to impose clarity and concision.
That said, Jamie McGillivrary is worth wading through. Who wants a just-the-facts past? Without its detail and “story,” history is just a list. Like Jamie, I'd rather howl than yawn.
Rob Weir
Note: I bought this book when Sayles did a reading in South Hadley. Ask your local library to order it.
October 30, 2025
Jamie MacGillivray is not without its problems, but John Sayles' overall accomplishment here and some nice high points make it well worth a read (3.5 stars).
Jamie MacGillivray starts with its title character's involvement in the Scottish rebellion that culminated in the Battle of Culloden in April 1746. MacGillivray, a Scotsman on the losing side, narrowly escapes execution only to be imprisoned and sent in indentured servitude to colonial America. He eventually finds himself living with the Lenape tribe and, giving vent to his grudge against England, fighting with the French against the British in the French and Indian War (aka the Seven Years' War).
Meanwhile, Jenny Ferguson, a Scottish farm girl with whom Jamie had a chance encounter, also lands in the colonies married to a prominent Frenchman after spending time as a mistress in the Caribbean.
Sayles weaves their two separate stories with similar threads of servitude, war, survival, culture clashes, and revolution. Along the way we meet a cast of historical figures, including a young and ambitious George Washington, British general James Wolfe, and Native American leader Shingas.
Once the story switches continents, Sayles' approach is to illuminate mid-18th century life in the colonies, with emphasis on coexisting with the Indians and the clash of civilizations. There's little hand-holding here regarding history (Washington's first name isn't even mentioned, for instance). Sayles, who threw us into the last of the Jacobite risings without much helpful guidance (until a character's interminable description of the war of succession in a conversation with another person only muddied the waters further for this reader), likewise is a bit cryptic about the big-picture happenings on the other side of the ocean in the French and Indian War. Still, seen from MacGillivray's point of view, it's a fascinating dive into the often brutal aspects of Native American life, including their fluid approach to helping either the French or the British, those countries' relations seemingly calmed across the water but simmering hotter and eventually boiling over in the New World. MacGillivray himself has no doubt which side he's on, but even as he becomes wholly accepted as an Indian, he notes, "I am between worlds."
Because I think one function of these Goodreads reviews is to alert readers about what they're getting into, note that there are a couple of tripwires that could blow your reading experience all to hell. First off, Sayles' use of untranslated French in the text — perhaps my biggest pet peeve as a reader — is all over Jamie MacGillivray. Sure, much of the meaning of the French dialogue can be gleaned by the text that follows, sometimes in summary or in a character's response. But a bit of it just hangs out there (unless you do speak French). Still, if you adopt a "carry on, nothing to see here" approach, figuring if he doesn't explain it, it's not important, readers can get along fine. So I was able to make peace with it.
Another possible hurdle is Sayles' phonetic representation of the Scottish accent. And in a novel about Scots transplanted to colonial America, Scottish brogue such as this is frequent: "As ye'd expect. Some puir twat has tae pull a' them wee wormie houses apart, twist them intae threads." Again, I was right down the middle on this tack and got used to it, so no deal-breaker.
Although there is adventure in Jamie MacGillivray, a novel of nonstop, headlong action it is not. Sayles is in it for the long haul. While 13 years pass in this story, there really are no textual touchstones — other than your knowledge of the French and Indian War — to tell you where we are in the timeline. But we know it's a long time getting there, at nearly 700 pages. In particular, you may wonder whether to continue during the slog of the opening Scots vs. Brits section. You should.
Jamie MacGillivray is a remarkable accomplishment in many ways, but Sayles does take too long to tell the story and his approach is a bit too distant. It's gritty and brutal, to be sure, but readers likely won't feel as invested in the characters as they might like. Ultimately, though, the long road through colonial America and the author's occasionally laborious approach to language are worth the effort, the many high points and generally very strong writing offsetting Sayles' refusal to lend readers a helping hand.
Jamie MacGillivray starts with its title character's involvement in the Scottish rebellion that culminated in the Battle of Culloden in April 1746. MacGillivray, a Scotsman on the losing side, narrowly escapes execution only to be imprisoned and sent in indentured servitude to colonial America. He eventually finds himself living with the Lenape tribe and, giving vent to his grudge against England, fighting with the French against the British in the French and Indian War (aka the Seven Years' War).
Meanwhile, Jenny Ferguson, a Scottish farm girl with whom Jamie had a chance encounter, also lands in the colonies married to a prominent Frenchman after spending time as a mistress in the Caribbean.
Sayles weaves their two separate stories with similar threads of servitude, war, survival, culture clashes, and revolution. Along the way we meet a cast of historical figures, including a young and ambitious George Washington, British general James Wolfe, and Native American leader Shingas.
Once the story switches continents, Sayles' approach is to illuminate mid-18th century life in the colonies, with emphasis on coexisting with the Indians and the clash of civilizations. There's little hand-holding here regarding history (Washington's first name isn't even mentioned, for instance). Sayles, who threw us into the last of the Jacobite risings without much helpful guidance (until a character's interminable description of the war of succession in a conversation with another person only muddied the waters further for this reader), likewise is a bit cryptic about the big-picture happenings on the other side of the ocean in the French and Indian War. Still, seen from MacGillivray's point of view, it's a fascinating dive into the often brutal aspects of Native American life, including their fluid approach to helping either the French or the British, those countries' relations seemingly calmed across the water but simmering hotter and eventually boiling over in the New World. MacGillivray himself has no doubt which side he's on, but even as he becomes wholly accepted as an Indian, he notes, "I am between worlds."
Because I think one function of these Goodreads reviews is to alert readers about what they're getting into, note that there are a couple of tripwires that could blow your reading experience all to hell. First off, Sayles' use of untranslated French in the text — perhaps my biggest pet peeve as a reader — is all over Jamie MacGillivray. Sure, much of the meaning of the French dialogue can be gleaned by the text that follows, sometimes in summary or in a character's response. But a bit of it just hangs out there (unless you do speak French). Still, if you adopt a "carry on, nothing to see here" approach, figuring if he doesn't explain it, it's not important, readers can get along fine. So I was able to make peace with it.
Another possible hurdle is Sayles' phonetic representation of the Scottish accent. And in a novel about Scots transplanted to colonial America, Scottish brogue such as this is frequent: "As ye'd expect. Some puir twat has tae pull a' them wee wormie houses apart, twist them intae threads." Again, I was right down the middle on this tack and got used to it, so no deal-breaker.
Although there is adventure in Jamie MacGillivray, a novel of nonstop, headlong action it is not. Sayles is in it for the long haul. While 13 years pass in this story, there really are no textual touchstones — other than your knowledge of the French and Indian War — to tell you where we are in the timeline. But we know it's a long time getting there, at nearly 700 pages. In particular, you may wonder whether to continue during the slog of the opening Scots vs. Brits section. You should.
Jamie MacGillivray is a remarkable accomplishment in many ways, but Sayles does take too long to tell the story and his approach is a bit too distant. It's gritty and brutal, to be sure, but readers likely won't feel as invested in the characters as they might like. Ultimately, though, the long road through colonial America and the author's occasionally laborious approach to language are worth the effort, the many high points and generally very strong writing offsetting Sayles' refusal to lend readers a helping hand.
March 5, 2023
I have been a fan of John Sayles’ films for decades. Among my favorites are Matewan, Lone Star and The Secret of Roan Inish. With the release of his latest novel, JAMIE MacGILLIVRAY, Sayles has brought all of his cinematic talents to the forefront with an epic work of historical fiction that never fails to entertain and enthrall readers.
Spanning 13 years and two continents, the action starts in 1746. When we meet our protagonist, Jamie MacGillivray, he is in the Scottish Highlands participating in the Battle of Culloden. Jamie is part of a rebellious troop that is battling against the man they label the “pretender” to the throne of the Three Kingdoms, Bonnie Prince Charlie. Jamie is referred to by his mates as “another young man gone a king-making.” But he will prove to them that he is made of tougher stuff when he is shot straight through his body in the skirmish and pulls through with little to no suffering. It is as if he was meant to survive and make a name for himself in the New World.
"Sayles has brought all of his cinematic talents to the forefront with an epic work of historical fiction that never fails to entertain and enthrall readers.... JAMIE MacGILLIVRAY is Dickensian in scope and a masterpiece that only the indomitable John Sayles could have produced."
Jamie’s travels are paralleled by those of Jenny Ferguson, a poor village girl. In fact, their narratives will rival each other in such a way that it almost seems to be predestined. They meet early on in the story when Jenny tells Jamie that she knows his brother. She will be brought up on false charges in the wake of the Battle of Culloden around the same time that the injured Jamie is captured and placed on a ship bound for England. This is just prior to them being sentenced to indentured servitude in colonial America.
Those who are taken along with Jamie see his recovery from the gunshot wound as a minor miracle and a tribute to the self-healing powers of the human body and spirit. This also will go a long way in him being thought of as a heralded Scottish figure. Jamie proves to be a well-spoken and intelligent character, which makes him worthy of admiration and fellowship. He is able to look at the situation and balance of power in his world and comment: “…with such a raggle-taggle of an empire, dozens of people and tongues that they speak, alliances here and ancient feuds there, as mony enemies as ye’ve got borders, ye never ken when ye’ll be dragged intae a dispute that leads tae a full-oot war.”
Arriving in chains in the New World, Jamie has to navigate allegiances between not only the British and French but also the indigenous Native American population. Part of the history of this new nation is detailed by Sayles with his depiction of the Lenape Indians, a tribe to which Jamie will endear himself so much that he is permanently branded as a member --- a badge of honor that he proudly wears. The second half of the novel, which outlines his time with the Lenape, will dive deep into the history of this great nation and their battles throughout the Ohio Territory. Readers will marvel at the appearance of famous figures such as General George Washington, General James Wolfe, and the feared leader of the Lenape tribe, Shingas the Terrible.
Jenny’s own adventures will see her in the New World, where she must assume and wear multiple hats like mistress, wife and bride of Christ, all the while escaping her own fated demise at the end of a gallows rope. She is a heroine of the highest degree and very easily could have carried her own story rather than share time with Jamie. However, it is the combination of these two warriors that makes this novel a true love letter to the people of the Scottish Highlands and their mighty spirit.
I hope we see more of Jamie and Jenny in the future, even if it’s in the form of a prequel. JAMIE MacGILLIVRAY is Dickensian in scope and a masterpiece that only the indomitable John Sayles could have produced.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
Spanning 13 years and two continents, the action starts in 1746. When we meet our protagonist, Jamie MacGillivray, he is in the Scottish Highlands participating in the Battle of Culloden. Jamie is part of a rebellious troop that is battling against the man they label the “pretender” to the throne of the Three Kingdoms, Bonnie Prince Charlie. Jamie is referred to by his mates as “another young man gone a king-making.” But he will prove to them that he is made of tougher stuff when he is shot straight through his body in the skirmish and pulls through with little to no suffering. It is as if he was meant to survive and make a name for himself in the New World.
"Sayles has brought all of his cinematic talents to the forefront with an epic work of historical fiction that never fails to entertain and enthrall readers.... JAMIE MacGILLIVRAY is Dickensian in scope and a masterpiece that only the indomitable John Sayles could have produced."
Jamie’s travels are paralleled by those of Jenny Ferguson, a poor village girl. In fact, their narratives will rival each other in such a way that it almost seems to be predestined. They meet early on in the story when Jenny tells Jamie that she knows his brother. She will be brought up on false charges in the wake of the Battle of Culloden around the same time that the injured Jamie is captured and placed on a ship bound for England. This is just prior to them being sentenced to indentured servitude in colonial America.
Those who are taken along with Jamie see his recovery from the gunshot wound as a minor miracle and a tribute to the self-healing powers of the human body and spirit. This also will go a long way in him being thought of as a heralded Scottish figure. Jamie proves to be a well-spoken and intelligent character, which makes him worthy of admiration and fellowship. He is able to look at the situation and balance of power in his world and comment: “…with such a raggle-taggle of an empire, dozens of people and tongues that they speak, alliances here and ancient feuds there, as mony enemies as ye’ve got borders, ye never ken when ye’ll be dragged intae a dispute that leads tae a full-oot war.”
Arriving in chains in the New World, Jamie has to navigate allegiances between not only the British and French but also the indigenous Native American population. Part of the history of this new nation is detailed by Sayles with his depiction of the Lenape Indians, a tribe to which Jamie will endear himself so much that he is permanently branded as a member --- a badge of honor that he proudly wears. The second half of the novel, which outlines his time with the Lenape, will dive deep into the history of this great nation and their battles throughout the Ohio Territory. Readers will marvel at the appearance of famous figures such as General George Washington, General James Wolfe, and the feared leader of the Lenape tribe, Shingas the Terrible.
Jenny’s own adventures will see her in the New World, where she must assume and wear multiple hats like mistress, wife and bride of Christ, all the while escaping her own fated demise at the end of a gallows rope. She is a heroine of the highest degree and very easily could have carried her own story rather than share time with Jamie. However, it is the combination of these two warriors that makes this novel a true love letter to the people of the Scottish Highlands and their mighty spirit.
I hope we see more of Jamie and Jenny in the future, even if it’s in the form of a prequel. JAMIE MacGILLIVRAY is Dickensian in scope and a masterpiece that only the indomitable John Sayles could have produced.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
March 5, 2023
I have been a fan of John Sayles’ films for decades. Among my favorites are Matewan, Lone Star and The Secret of Roan Inish. With the release of his latest novel, JAMIE MacGILLIVRAY, Sayles has brought all of his cinematic talents to the forefront with an epic work of historical fiction that never fails to entertain and enthrall readers.
Spanning 13 years and two continents, the action starts in 1746. When we meet our protagonist, Jamie MacGillivray, he is in the Scottish Highlands participating in the Battle of Culloden. Jamie is part of a rebellious troop that is battling against the man they label the “pretender” to the throne of the Three Kingdoms, Bonnie Prince Charlie. Jamie is referred to by his mates as “another young man gone a king-making.” But he will prove to them that he is made of tougher stuff when he is shot straight through his body in the skirmish and pulls through with little to no suffering. It is as if he was meant to survive and make a name for himself in the New World.
Jamie’s travels are paralleled by those of Jenny Ferguson, a poor village girl. In fact, their narratives will rival each other in such a way that it almost seems to be predestined. They meet early on in the story when Jenny tells Jamie that she knows his brother. She will be brought up on false charges in the wake of the Battle of Culloden around the same time that the injured Jamie is captured and placed on a ship bound for England. This is just prior to them being sentenced to indentured servitude in colonial America.
Those who are taken along with Jamie see his recovery from the gunshot wound as a minor miracle and a tribute to the self-healing powers of the human body and spirit. This also will go a long way in him being thought of as a heralded Scottish figure. Jamie proves to be a well-spoken and intelligent character, which makes him worthy of admiration and fellowship. He is able to look at the situation and balance of power in his world and comment: “…with such a raggle-taggle of an empire, dozens of people and tongues that they speak, alliances here and ancient feuds there, as mony enemies as ye’ve got borders, ye never ken when ye’ll be dragged intae a dispute that leads tae a full-oot war.”
Arriving in chains in the New World, Jamie has to navigate allegiances between not only the British and French but also the indigenous Native American population. Part of the history of this new nation is detailed by Sayles with his depiction of the Lenape Indians, a tribe to which Jamie will endear himself so much that he is permanently branded as a member --- a badge of honor that he proudly wears. The second half of the novel, which outlines his time with the Lenape, will dive deep into the history of this great nation and their battles throughout the Ohio Territory. Readers will marvel at the appearance of famous figures such as General George Washington, General James Wolfe, and the feared leader of the Lenape tribe, Shingas the Terrible.
Jenny’s own adventures will see her in the New World, where she must assume and wear multiple hats like mistress, wife and bride of Christ, all the while escaping her own fated demise at the end of a gallows rope. She is a heroine of the highest degree and very easily could have carried her own story rather than share time with Jamie. However, it is the combination of these two warriors that makes this novel a true love letter to the people of the Scottish Highlands and their mighty spirit.
I hope we see more of Jamie and Jenny in the future, even if it’s in the form of a prequel. JAMIE MacGILLIVRAY is Dickensian in scope and a masterpiece that only the indomitable John Sayles could have produced.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
Spanning 13 years and two continents, the action starts in 1746. When we meet our protagonist, Jamie MacGillivray, he is in the Scottish Highlands participating in the Battle of Culloden. Jamie is part of a rebellious troop that is battling against the man they label the “pretender” to the throne of the Three Kingdoms, Bonnie Prince Charlie. Jamie is referred to by his mates as “another young man gone a king-making.” But he will prove to them that he is made of tougher stuff when he is shot straight through his body in the skirmish and pulls through with little to no suffering. It is as if he was meant to survive and make a name for himself in the New World.
Jamie’s travels are paralleled by those of Jenny Ferguson, a poor village girl. In fact, their narratives will rival each other in such a way that it almost seems to be predestined. They meet early on in the story when Jenny tells Jamie that she knows his brother. She will be brought up on false charges in the wake of the Battle of Culloden around the same time that the injured Jamie is captured and placed on a ship bound for England. This is just prior to them being sentenced to indentured servitude in colonial America.
Those who are taken along with Jamie see his recovery from the gunshot wound as a minor miracle and a tribute to the self-healing powers of the human body and spirit. This also will go a long way in him being thought of as a heralded Scottish figure. Jamie proves to be a well-spoken and intelligent character, which makes him worthy of admiration and fellowship. He is able to look at the situation and balance of power in his world and comment: “…with such a raggle-taggle of an empire, dozens of people and tongues that they speak, alliances here and ancient feuds there, as mony enemies as ye’ve got borders, ye never ken when ye’ll be dragged intae a dispute that leads tae a full-oot war.”
Arriving in chains in the New World, Jamie has to navigate allegiances between not only the British and French but also the indigenous Native American population. Part of the history of this new nation is detailed by Sayles with his depiction of the Lenape Indians, a tribe to which Jamie will endear himself so much that he is permanently branded as a member --- a badge of honor that he proudly wears. The second half of the novel, which outlines his time with the Lenape, will dive deep into the history of this great nation and their battles throughout the Ohio Territory. Readers will marvel at the appearance of famous figures such as General George Washington, General James Wolfe, and the feared leader of the Lenape tribe, Shingas the Terrible.
Jenny’s own adventures will see her in the New World, where she must assume and wear multiple hats like mistress, wife and bride of Christ, all the while escaping her own fated demise at the end of a gallows rope. She is a heroine of the highest degree and very easily could have carried her own story rather than share time with Jamie. However, it is the combination of these two warriors that makes this novel a true love letter to the people of the Scottish Highlands and their mighty spirit.
I hope we see more of Jamie and Jenny in the future, even if it’s in the form of a prequel. JAMIE MacGILLIVRAY is Dickensian in scope and a masterpiece that only the indomitable John Sayles could have produced.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
May 26, 2023
Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey" by John Sayles is an historical fiction novel of cinematic quality. A voluminous read of 700 pages, it covers a span of 13 years from the Battle of Culloden in 1746 to the French and Indian War which culminated in the Battle of Quebec on the Plains of Abraham in 1759, with the French losing their foothold in Canada. Unlike the screenwriting of author Sayles, with a set time frame to create and block a story, he dons his novelist's hat providing a captivating story of one, Jamie MacGillivray, along with a parallel tale of Jenny Ferguson, who both were transported to the New World for their involvement in the Jacobite Rebellion.
Jamie MacGillivray, a Scottish Highlander, was part of the Jacobite Rebellion, fighting alongside the French in a failed attempt to unseat King George II. Injured, he hid under a pile of dead rebels. Jenny Ferguson, a crofter's daughter, found him and ministered to him in her father's cottage. Jamie, expecting to die, gave Jenny his mother's wedding ring. Perhaps the gold band would prove helpful in the future. When Jamie and Jenny were discovered hiding from the British, they were imprisoned. Jamie was sent to the Marshalsea Prison with the expectation of being hanged. Defying death, he was sent to the colonies as an indentured servant for the remainder of his natural life. Georgia plantation owner, Jock Crozier's cruelty to Jamie resulted in his escape, only to be caught by Indians of the Lenape Nation. The Lenape gave Jamie beatings and women's work. With the ever present thought of escape, Jamie was still able to find "his place" especially after saving some young children from capture by a rival tribe.
Jenny, a poor servant girl, by having given shelter to a wounded Jamie, was branded a rebel and then transported, in chains, ending up in Martinique. She was purchased by a French artillery officer, St. Cyr. Since her life would depend upon him, it was essential to learn French. His seductive way of teaching would lead Jenny to become his reluctant mistress, however, not until she was able to bargain with him for two pairs of shoes. She could be seen on his arm, a white woman in Creole Society.
Jamie and Jenny both voice their difficult, different, and unique journeys as they must pivot, regroup and reinvent themselves through time; Jamie as a Lenape warrior named Long Knife, Jenny as a mistress, cook and sister of mercy.
Jamie's renegade journey is rich in Scottish dialect as well as French dialogue. This added to my enjoyment of the novel. Meticulous research provided a detailed history of the clashes between the English and French between the years of 1746-1759. The plight of the Highland rebels in Scotland and the treatment of Native Americans in the New World by colonizers seemed authentic. Indentured servants and Native Americans were robbed of their identities in the quest to expand the British sphere of influence in the New World in the 18th Century. An excellent read that begs a sequel.
Thank you Melville House Publishing and Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Jamie MacGillivray, a Scottish Highlander, was part of the Jacobite Rebellion, fighting alongside the French in a failed attempt to unseat King George II. Injured, he hid under a pile of dead rebels. Jenny Ferguson, a crofter's daughter, found him and ministered to him in her father's cottage. Jamie, expecting to die, gave Jenny his mother's wedding ring. Perhaps the gold band would prove helpful in the future. When Jamie and Jenny were discovered hiding from the British, they were imprisoned. Jamie was sent to the Marshalsea Prison with the expectation of being hanged. Defying death, he was sent to the colonies as an indentured servant for the remainder of his natural life. Georgia plantation owner, Jock Crozier's cruelty to Jamie resulted in his escape, only to be caught by Indians of the Lenape Nation. The Lenape gave Jamie beatings and women's work. With the ever present thought of escape, Jamie was still able to find "his place" especially after saving some young children from capture by a rival tribe.
Jenny, a poor servant girl, by having given shelter to a wounded Jamie, was branded a rebel and then transported, in chains, ending up in Martinique. She was purchased by a French artillery officer, St. Cyr. Since her life would depend upon him, it was essential to learn French. His seductive way of teaching would lead Jenny to become his reluctant mistress, however, not until she was able to bargain with him for two pairs of shoes. She could be seen on his arm, a white woman in Creole Society.
Jamie and Jenny both voice their difficult, different, and unique journeys as they must pivot, regroup and reinvent themselves through time; Jamie as a Lenape warrior named Long Knife, Jenny as a mistress, cook and sister of mercy.
Jamie's renegade journey is rich in Scottish dialect as well as French dialogue. This added to my enjoyment of the novel. Meticulous research provided a detailed history of the clashes between the English and French between the years of 1746-1759. The plight of the Highland rebels in Scotland and the treatment of Native Americans in the New World by colonizers seemed authentic. Indentured servants and Native Americans were robbed of their identities in the quest to expand the British sphere of influence in the New World in the 18th Century. An excellent read that begs a sequel.
Thank you Melville House Publishing and Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 3, 2024
John Sayles has made several of my favorite films. Such films as Matewan, Eight Men Out, and Lone Star, occupy an important place in American independent cinema. Before he was a filmaker, however, he was a novelist. Jamie MacGillivray, was a 20 year old idle screenplay before Sayles transformed it into this stirring, rollicking, richly detailed historical novel, which drops you into the middle of some of the most consequential moments of the 18th century.
Jamie is a bit late to the Battle of Culloden, where Scotland's dream of independence in 1746 came to a devastating end, but is captured and brutally beaten on the farm of the Scottish girl, Jenny Ferguson, who had tried to hide him from the soldiers. They are both arrested and sent to London, where they will be tried for treason. Captured rebels were either drawn and quartered, hung, or sentenced to transportation, which would be a lifetime of slavery in North America. The book chronicles the journeys of these two major characters, who randomly are sentenced to transportation. Jamie escapes from the brutish conditions of a Virginia plantation, to a capture and continued servitude in an Indian tribe, earning a place as a respected warrior in that tribe. Jenny is transported to the sugar plantations of Martinique, where she is first the indentured servant, then concubine, of a French gunnery officer. The circumstances of the French and Indian War take both these characters to the pivotal Battle of Quebec in 1759, where both characters briefly reunite, then move on to their separate journeys of newfound freedom.
Sayle's deeply researched narrative, uses actual historical characters, with their dialects and languages, to help thrust the reader into those critical years on the global stage. Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey, is the best historical novel I've read in a very long time.
Jamie is a bit late to the Battle of Culloden, where Scotland's dream of independence in 1746 came to a devastating end, but is captured and brutally beaten on the farm of the Scottish girl, Jenny Ferguson, who had tried to hide him from the soldiers. They are both arrested and sent to London, where they will be tried for treason. Captured rebels were either drawn and quartered, hung, or sentenced to transportation, which would be a lifetime of slavery in North America. The book chronicles the journeys of these two major characters, who randomly are sentenced to transportation. Jamie escapes from the brutish conditions of a Virginia plantation, to a capture and continued servitude in an Indian tribe, earning a place as a respected warrior in that tribe. Jenny is transported to the sugar plantations of Martinique, where she is first the indentured servant, then concubine, of a French gunnery officer. The circumstances of the French and Indian War take both these characters to the pivotal Battle of Quebec in 1759, where both characters briefly reunite, then move on to their separate journeys of newfound freedom.
Sayle's deeply researched narrative, uses actual historical characters, with their dialects and languages, to help thrust the reader into those critical years on the global stage. Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey, is the best historical novel I've read in a very long time.
October 8, 2023
Two minor faults with this book: 1) it's about 75 pages too long; the pace began to lag a bit about 7/8 of the way through, but then it picked up at the end. 2) Some coincidences are unrealistic.
However, it held my attention throughout; sometimes I was so eager to find out what happens next that, I confess, I skipped some paragraphs here and there, which I usually don't do. I know enough French to figure out the French dialogue, and much of it either involved English cognates or was translated anyway (two of the characters act as translators from French to English and vice versa). If you don't know French, don't let that stop you from reading it.
Other people who reviewed the book didn't like the cameos of real historical figures, but George Washington did actually have a role in the French and Indian Wars, so it was legit to include him in a couple of historically accurate scenes. Also, some of the other relatively minor characters in the book are real historical figures who Americans don't learn about in history class. (I won't name them to avoid giving spoilers.)
Jamie spends a lot of time watching what's happening around him. I imagine Jamie as watcher is a sort of fictional double of Sayles as movie-making observer. They both watch life as it was lived by ordinary people at the mercy of larger political and military powers.
As a history book, this was well researched. I learned as a child about the French and Indian Wars in New England, the battle for Quebec City, and the deportation of the Acadians, but I didn't know about the French and English struggles farther west, so I feel better educated now about the mid-18th century in North America. I will think of Scotch-Irish, Cajuns and French Canadians, Pennsylvania Dutch, and African Americans in the US differently now, as descendants of the people in this book.
However, it held my attention throughout; sometimes I was so eager to find out what happens next that, I confess, I skipped some paragraphs here and there, which I usually don't do. I know enough French to figure out the French dialogue, and much of it either involved English cognates or was translated anyway (two of the characters act as translators from French to English and vice versa). If you don't know French, don't let that stop you from reading it.
Other people who reviewed the book didn't like the cameos of real historical figures, but George Washington did actually have a role in the French and Indian Wars, so it was legit to include him in a couple of historically accurate scenes. Also, some of the other relatively minor characters in the book are real historical figures who Americans don't learn about in history class. (I won't name them to avoid giving spoilers.)
Jamie spends a lot of time watching what's happening around him. I imagine Jamie as watcher is a sort of fictional double of Sayles as movie-making observer. They both watch life as it was lived by ordinary people at the mercy of larger political and military powers.
As a history book, this was well researched. I learned as a child about the French and Indian Wars in New England, the battle for Quebec City, and the deportation of the Acadians, but I didn't know about the French and English struggles farther west, so I feel better educated now about the mid-18th century in North America. I will think of Scotch-Irish, Cajuns and French Canadians, Pennsylvania Dutch, and African Americans in the US differently now, as descendants of the people in this book.
February 21, 2024
A surprisingly readable saga of a Scot, Jamie, who fights the English in Culloden Moor. After his injury and hiding from the English under the bodies of other Scottish warriors, he persuades Jenny's father to take him home. He gives Jenny his only worthy possession, his mother's ring, to save his life. From this point the stories of Jamie and Jenny diverge, and swap back and forth. Jamie is enslaved and sent to Georgia, and although the Crown claims that indentured servants will be freed after a number of years, it does not look likely in Jamie's case. He escapes to become captured by native Americans and over time becomes a member of the tribe. His hatred of the English never dies though.
Jenny is also indentured but a French privateer captures her ship and sends her to Martinique. She is a mistress to St.Cyr and lives a charmed life until they are sent to Canada to fight the French and Indian War. Her life becomes dreary until she is again imprisoned and moves to rural Pennsylvania which belongs to the Delaware.
The parallel stories of Jamie and Jenny are an interesting contrast, and keep your interest for all 700 pages. Bravo!
Jenny is also indentured but a French privateer captures her ship and sends her to Martinique. She is a mistress to St.Cyr and lives a charmed life until they are sent to Canada to fight the French and Indian War. Her life becomes dreary until she is again imprisoned and moves to rural Pennsylvania which belongs to the Delaware.
The parallel stories of Jamie and Jenny are an interesting contrast, and keep your interest for all 700 pages. Bravo!
October 23, 2024
The only way this book makes sense is if it's the first of two or more volumes. Otherwise, the very well-written "Jamie MacGillivray" doesn't really end -- it just stops. One of the major characters does have a semi-satisfactory conclusion to 13 years of hard living in the mid-18th century, but the other is simply left hanging.
Still, the descriptions of life in Scotland, England, the Caribbean, the Carolinas, Appalachia and Canada are riveting. The indigenous tribes are described in detail, and given just as much credence as the colonizers/invaders. People are people regardless of location, and can be foolish, cruel and kind in equal measure.
John Sayles' research is impressive and results in a feeling of being in a different time and place, and the harsh conditions are never papered over with heroism.
I really enjoyed "Jamie MacGillivray" until very end, when I turned back a few pages to see if I had missed something important in the conclusion. I hadn't, and if this is all there is, then Sayles delivered a tremendous setup with a very, very disappointing payoff.
Hopefully, though, volume two is on the way.
Still, the descriptions of life in Scotland, England, the Caribbean, the Carolinas, Appalachia and Canada are riveting. The indigenous tribes are described in detail, and given just as much credence as the colonizers/invaders. People are people regardless of location, and can be foolish, cruel and kind in equal measure.
John Sayles' research is impressive and results in a feeling of being in a different time and place, and the harsh conditions are never papered over with heroism.
I really enjoyed "Jamie MacGillivray" until very end, when I turned back a few pages to see if I had missed something important in the conclusion. I hadn't, and if this is all there is, then Sayles delivered a tremendous setup with a very, very disappointing payoff.
Hopefully, though, volume two is on the way.
March 29, 2024
This was one of the toughest reads for me to follow! My only negative thought is that the chapters were so long that it was hard to read a full chapter at any given time and that made it harder to track which character's story I was following when I picked it back up. So many characters and circumstances.
I liked the perspective of both a male and female character as they were banished from England.
SO MUCH HISTORY!! I loved the historical detail, it was portrayed realistically even if bitst are fictional, as the schools focus on the Revolutionary War in America and not on the French-Indian War that preceded it. And then again, there are no schools in America teaching about the significance of the battles such as Cullodoon in leading up to many other world events.
I was definitely surprised with some of the fictional part of the ending, but it was a nice bit of closure for the entire book.
I liked the perspective of both a male and female character as they were banished from England.
SO MUCH HISTORY!! I loved the historical detail, it was portrayed realistically even if bitst are fictional, as the schools focus on the Revolutionary War in America and not on the French-Indian War that preceded it. And then again, there are no schools in America teaching about the significance of the battles such as Cullodoon in leading up to many other world events.
I was definitely surprised with some of the fictional part of the ending, but it was a nice bit of closure for the entire book.
May 30, 2023
Masterful. Compelling. Thoughtful.
Unlike the start ( Culloden defeat) and name of main character (Jamie), this is not The Outlander!
An ambitious read that demands commitment.
This historic fiction is guided by resilient narrators cast from Scotland, the Ohio Valley, Martinique, Canada. Despite varied locales, the experiences of the Highlanders post-Jacobite defeat is mirrored by other conflicts. Key to each- there is no common voice.
The dialogue is challenging, with sprinklings of Scot phonetics, French, and more offset by Sayles’ craftsmanship. Words impact. As one character notes-
“Words are like the colors and shapes on the back of a snake…They may be very bold, very beautiful, and serve to warn the weaker creatures away. Or they may blend in with what is around them, and serve to hide the snake in a tree or on the forest floor, so it can attack and kill.”
Unlike the start ( Culloden defeat) and name of main character (Jamie), this is not The Outlander!
An ambitious read that demands commitment.
This historic fiction is guided by resilient narrators cast from Scotland, the Ohio Valley, Martinique, Canada. Despite varied locales, the experiences of the Highlanders post-Jacobite defeat is mirrored by other conflicts. Key to each- there is no common voice.
The dialogue is challenging, with sprinklings of Scot phonetics, French, and more offset by Sayles’ craftsmanship. Words impact. As one character notes-
“Words are like the colors and shapes on the back of a snake…They may be very bold, very beautiful, and serve to warn the weaker creatures away. Or they may blend in with what is around them, and serve to hide the snake in a tree or on the forest floor, so it can attack and kill.”
August 6, 2023
Ambitious historical fiction, placing a Scotsman, exiled to the British Colonies, with Lenape Indians, and then seeing the Seven Years War from their perspective—AND from the perspective of a French lieutenant and many others who found themselves in Pennsylvania in the 1740s. I found it engaging, but also felt that confusion that the genre sometimes engenders: What events and people were real and were there portrayals consistent with reliable sources? (always more to learn!) Unfortunately the ending, at the siege of Quebec, adds the voices of the opposing commanders, which I found distracting— by that point I just wanted to follow the fates of the two principle characters, and Sayles does end with Jamie’s decision to finally leave his Scotch heritage behind.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2023
I really really really liked it to begin with....but then it. Just. Kept. Going. I love Sayles' movies and this shares some of the characteristics, such as sweep, well-developed main characters, examination of race and class, etc. It's a a fun, swashbuckling tale and well-told with historical accuracy. However, it could have easily been cut by 150 pages. And while I enjoyed many of the varying POVs, including those of actual historical figures, there were a few too many indistinguishable military officers who could have been omitted (or a list of who's who would have been helpful). Still a very enjoyable read.
March 26, 2024
A very personal view of the French and Indian war.
I never had much knowledge of this time period in North America, and had no appreciation of the struggles of my ancestors, or the Native Americans. John Sayles must have done a lot of research to accurately portray characters from all the different cultures that clashed during this early war in North America.
Those readers who enjoy historical novels would love this book. Be prepared to translate some French however, if you are not fluid in this language. This was a little bit of a challenge for me, but it was well worth it in order to fully immerse myself into the French culture.
Thank you John Sayles for providing an exciting and intimate view of a time in history that I have neglected.
I never had much knowledge of this time period in North America, and had no appreciation of the struggles of my ancestors, or the Native Americans. John Sayles must have done a lot of research to accurately portray characters from all the different cultures that clashed during this early war in North America.
Those readers who enjoy historical novels would love this book. Be prepared to translate some French however, if you are not fluid in this language. This was a little bit of a challenge for me, but it was well worth it in order to fully immerse myself into the French culture.
Thank you John Sayles for providing an exciting and intimate view of a time in history that I have neglected.
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