“This is a great read. I could hardly put it down. It is set within an historical context but also includes some really deep reflections on character and human frailty. Lovat writes with passion arising from his own reconnection with his Scottish heritage. Thoroughly recommended.”
“Growing up in Scotland I have heard, read or saw a lot on Culloden and our Jacobite history so was very curious to see what this book could add to that. T.J Lovat had aptly named it Son of a Jacobite as this book is pretty much the life of that one character. A boy, Thomas, born the day of Culloden while his father fought and died for the Jacobite cause. This gives it the underlying current only of Thomas losing his father, moving away and ultimately being lost on what to do with his life.
It was great to read something different and there seems to be a hint near the end that there might be more to come from T.J Lovat, even If this is a standalone book, I can’t wait to see what else he comes up with.”
April, 1746. Born on the final day of the Jacobite Rebellion at Culloden, Thomas Lovat enters the world on the same day his father departs, killed in action. The devastation of Culloden and the Highland Clearances will have a profound effect on the rest of Thomas’s life.
Conscious of his heritage and its associated anger, Thomas is confronted with a confused identity and heritage as he grows into a young man. Travelling to the Middle East, he meets and marries his first love. Together they bear a child. He comes to see the beauty and troubles of Islam and so reflects on his own religious beliefs and values.
Returning to England, Thomas joins the British Army and travels to the Americas in the prelude to the War of Independence. As the American Revolution plays out, the tension between Thomas’s rebellious Jacobite heritage and his duties as a British officer come dramatically to the fore.