The Betrayal of Maggie Blair

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Author(s)

Elizabeth Laird

Publisher

Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

Genre(s)

Age Range

12+

Release Date

April 18, 2011

ISBN

B008SMID9W

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In seventeenth-century Scotland, saying the wrong thing can lead to banishment—or worse. Accused of being a witch, sixteen-year-old Maggie Blair is sentenced to be hanged. She escapes, but instead of finding shelter with her principled, patriotic uncle, she brings disaster to his door.

Betrayed by one of her own accusers, Maggie must try to save her uncle and his family from the king’s men, even if she has to risk her own life in the process.

Originally published in the UK, this book has a powerful blend of heart-stopping action and thought-provoking themes.

Betrayed by one of her own accusers, Maggie must try to save her uncle and his family from the king’s men, even if she has to risk her own life in the process.

Originally published in the UK, this book has a powerful blend of heart-stopping action and thought-provoking themes.

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Hobbitsies Reviews: A bit slow, but interesting

December 22, 2012

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I’m a big, big fan of historical fiction. But I’ll be honest – I don’t know much about the history of Scotland. I haven’t even seen the movie Braveheart (although I’ve heard that’s not historically accurate, so, you know). So I was pretty excited about The Betrayal of Maggie Blair – historical fiction, plus it’s about a country period I don’t know that much about it.

And, okay, The Betrayal of Maggie Blair was pretty slow going at first. Other people might not see it that way – I mean, nothing about being accused as a witch is boring, but it did take me a while to get into. But the storyline got more and more interesting as it went on, and definitely more rocky for Maggie. Seriously – that girl went through a lot of crap throughout this book. I really felt for her. She was really, really loyal to her family and would do anything for them, and I loved that.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t all that attached to any of the other characters. Annie exasperated me, but I thought she was a well written and interesting character. No one else really stood out to me as being memorable.

There is a lot of religious elements to this book, which makes sense considering the time period. A rocky time for religion, no matter where you were.

Overall, The Betrayal of Maggie Blair was a very interesting, albeit slow book. Elizabeth Laird did an excellent job of describing the time period well enough for the reader to visualize. I definitely recommend it to fans of historical fiction. Also – the finished copy is gorgeous, so added bonus!

Review originally posted on my blog http://hobbitsies.net/2011/04/the-betrayal-of-maggie-blair-by-elizabeth-laird/