I couldn’t wait to read this book as I really enjoyed Sally Magnusson’s first novel.

The story is inspired by folklore surrounding the death of the minister Robert Kirke in 1692. It follows the life of Isabel Aird, 150
Years later, as she struggles with her role in life as a Victorian lady trying to fit in with the social norms of her time and her ability to start a family.

This book is beautifully written and the descriptions of the Scottish landscape particularly around the Trossachs.. The imagery is very evocative and you can imagine the characters walking around this landscape with the fairies that inhabit the glens. There are also many historical references to the way people were living in poverty in Glasgow in the 1800s, which are as equally well described. I think these descriptions add an important contrast to the landscape of the Highlands and fairies.

There are several voices in this story that switch around to give different perspectives including Prince Albert. All the voices are quite different and I felt there perhaps were too many. The story could have easily been told by the character Kirsty a Highlander who works for the Aird family alongside the ramblings of Robert Kirke.

I am a big fan of historical fiction particularly with a mystical element so I did enjoy this book but it didn’t quite tick all the boxes I was hoping it would. Having said the Sally Magnusson’s beautiful style of writing will always leave me wanting to read more.

It is 1856 and an aqueduct is being built to bring fresh water to Glasgow from Loch Katrine. It is hoped that this will bring an end to the epidemic cholera that is rife in the city.
The story focuses specifically on the engineers and their families and the doctor on duty with his wife Isabel Aird, who is grieving after losing all her eight children from miscarriage and stillbirth. Isabel however begins to feel the magic and stark beauty of the Scottish fens and Loch Katrine and she meets the enigmatic Robert Kirke, a sinister minister, writing about fairy lore and superstitions around the area.
This is a well written novel with a true feeling of time and place. However, i could not connect with the central character, Isabel and i found her lacking any personality.
Like Sally's previous novel, The Sealwoman's Gift, she has put a lot of research into the history and people of this era, and it makes you feel grateful for the Victorian engineers bringing fresh water to the towns and cities, that are still in use today. I always look forward to a new novel from Sally Magnusson as she is such a gifted writer.
#TheNinthChild #NetGalley

A marmite read for me I'm afraid.

The historical side of the book is really interesting. We find out aabout the building of the aqueduct system in Glasgow which stretches from Loch Katrine to the Milngavie Reservoir. This is still in operation today as it serves the city with their water. I'm all for finding out about things like this, historical moments that arent' well covered, so this was really gripping. Imagine at a time when cholera and diseases were rife, what this would have meant to the people of the city!

Of course there were problems and challenges with this and the men who built it were put upon by their demanding rich bosses (no change there then)

I just wish this had been the main focus of the book. It's the backdrop really and this for me was much more interesting than the plot itself. The main plot focuses on a minster and his wife with problems in their marriage and when trying to have a baby. there's tales of folklore and magical realism which are linked to the actual area of Doon Hill which was interesting. However, the story then meandered off into new and numerous strands and I felt the heart of it was lost in the midst of it all.

The writing and scene setting is brilliant though so despite my not being a fan of the subplots, I loved the overall idea and will definately be buying the author's next book.

This one was a disappointment for me I’m afraid. The plot sounded great, and I normally love magical realism, but in this occasion it just didn’t work. The writing was stilted, the plot just completely bizarre, and I couldn’t connect with Isabel at all. Not one I would recommend, and a disappointing experience for my first book by the author.

Thank you to John Murray/Two Roads and NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

I shall start my review by saying that Sally Magnusson is evidently a brilliant writer, I would not have been able to finish the book if this were not the case.

I really struggled to read this book, Isabel's story was sad but not her actions and the plot (and sub plots) surrounding her were not that believable. It felt as though the book needed to either go fully into the more magical realism elements or pull back entirely, it seemed to be balancing between the two and unfortunately it did not pay off. A real shame as I was so hoping to enjoy The Ninth Child.

As I said, I very much enjoyed Magnusson's writing and I do hope she releases another book in the near future.

3/5

I found this book to be a mixture of history with an almost mythical feel.
This story is about the building of the Loch Katrine water works built to bring fresh water to the people in Glasgow and is intermingled with the legend of Reverend Robert Kirke a man who wrote about fairy folk in a mystical place.
I was drawn to the characters especially Isabel who is at a very sad time when the book begins.book
A good interesting book. Thank you netgalley.

Sally Magnusson’s first novel, The Sealwoman's Gift, was excellent so I’d been waiting with baited breath for her second. The historical background is the building of the aqueduct system from Loch Katrine to the Milngavie Reservoir to supply the City of Glasgow with fresh drinking water. Cholera was rife so this was a very forward thinking public health programme for its time. The system was opened by Queen Victoria in 1859 and has been supplying clean drinking water to the city ever since so, from a local point of view, the historical details were really interesting. In particular, I enjoyed learning about the engineering difficulties encountered and overcome, and the dreadful living and working conditions of the 3,000 or so navvies whose temporary living quarters were nicknamed Sebastopol after the Crimean battle.

This wasn’t the main plot, however. It centred around the camp doctor’s wife, Isabel Aird, who has suffered a series of miscarriages, and her relationship with Robert Kirke, an Episcopalian minister who is famous for writing a book on fairy lore and superstition and whose grave is still to be seen in Aberfoyle churchyard, just a short distance from Loch Katrine. The problem is that he died two centuries before they met. Herein lies my problem with this book. I don’t like magical realism and that aspect of the story was just too silly for me and became ever sillier as the book drew to a close. When he died, it was rumoured that Kirke had ‘gone to faery’ and Doon Hill, Aberfoyle, where this is supposed to have happened, is still a place of fairy lore and superstition today. People still tie ribbons and favours to the tree at the top of the hill. Kirke’s reappearance 200 years later is a journey to seek rest in peace, away from fairyland, but to say any more would be to spoil the plot for other readers.

I also felt that some of the subplots were too contrived. Isabel’s visit to the Saltmarket to see Annie’s sister, Nancy, was a means to describe the desperate living conditions of the poor. Would a West End lady really have made the journey there at that time other than for philanthropic purposes? Isabel did nothing to help Nancy which did not ring true with her character. Nor, for me, did the personal lives of Victoria and Albert have more than a tenuous link with the storyline.

Sally Magnusson is an excellent, intelligent writer. In her first two works of fiction she has written about interesting historical events. The Ninth Child just didn’t work for me, however, and so I didn’t particularly enjoy it. 3 stars because it is a very well written book but it disappointed me. I will still be hoping Sally writes a third novel though.

With thanks to John Murray Press and NetGalley for a review copy.