The Redemption of Alexander Seaton

  1. The Redemption of Alexander Seaton
  2. by Shona Maclean

Maclean's first novel is set in Banff, Scotland, in the 1620s, where the religious climate is as inhospitable as the weather, and it deals with proper, old-fashioned sin - pride, lust and wrath, not to mention greed and avarice. Seaton, a disgraced would-be minister, finds the dead body of the apothecary's assistant in his school house, and when one of his few remaining friends is accused of the murder, he determines to clear the young man's name. Such is the quality of the recreation, not only of the reeking ebb and flow of everyday life, but also of the period mindset, that it's easy to believe Satan is walking abroad, sowing discord among the children of men. Pacy and literate, with a handy glossary of Scottish terms at the back, this is an accomplished and thought-provoking debut.

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