Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History, has written more than 50 books specializing in British Christianity. These books include: The Monastery Murders, clerical mysteries; Lord Danvers Investigates, Victorian true-crime; The Elizabeth and Richard series, literary suspense; and Glastonbury, The Novel of Christian England. She loves research and sharing you-are-there experiences with her readers.
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Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History
A traveling researcher engages people and places from Britain's past and present, drawing comparisons and contrasts between past and present for today's reader.
Scotland on My Mind, the Influence of Heritage
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ July 7, 2023
(Donna and Stan Crow 1963)
This year my husband and I celebrate our sixtieth wedding anniversary. Yes—that’s 60! We are observing this milestone with a family reunion in Scotland. Our whole family romping for a week on the shores of the River Tay. With such jolly times in the offing I have been thinking about how my Scottish heritage has influenced my writing.
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Family Stories Used in Novels
I first used my family history as a framework for the fictionalized Daughters of Courage Trilogy, with the Scots heritage running through all 3 stories, but most deeply in Kathryn where my maternal grandmother marries her incorrigible Scotsman after a trip from the Idaho desert to the green hills of Selkirk—complete with the Common Riding that makes up one of our favorite family stories.
(Clarence and Esther Fletcher 1907)
Accordingly, when it was time to send Charles and Antonia, Lord and Lady Danvers on their honeymoon in Grave Matters, Book 2 in my Lord Danvers Investigates Victorian true-crime series, where else but to Scotland?
The newlyweds fly off in Lord Danvers' aerostat for an idyllic secluded getaway. Never mind that an ill wind blows them off-course to the Hebrides Islands and the shades of grave robbers from a generation earlier come back to haunt them.
Love of Scottish History Sparks Epic
I took a deep dive into Scottish history for my epic The Fields on Bannockburn, A Novel of Christian Scotland from its Origins to Independence. These stories now comprise the first 4 epochs in my Celtic Cross Series Part I, Scotland: The Struggle for a Nation.
For writing that I researched all the key locations of the stories:
The wonderful island of Iona where St. Columba first brought Christianity to his adopted land;
(Martyr's Bay Iona, DFC)
Historic Dunadd where Kenneth MacAlpin, who forged a nation from scattered, warring tribes, was proclaimed king;
(Dunnad Fort by Otter own work)
Majestic Edinburgh Castle where Queen Margaret, the refiner of the realm, is remembered in her tiny chapel;
(Edinburgh Castle from North Kim Traynor own work)
Stirling, bridge which was the scene of the valiant William Wallace’s greatest victory, overlooked by his magnificent monument;
(Stirling Bridge and Wallace Monument By Kim Traynor – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,)
And Bannockburn where Robert the Bruce finished the work with freedom for the nation.
(Robert the Bruce statue Bannockburn)
Wigtown Martyrs Offer Inspiration
Years later I visited the site of the execution of the Wigtown martyrs—the two Margarets, 18-year-old Margaret Wilson of the flaxen hair and the grey-headed 63-year-old Margaret MacLachlan. Sentenced to death for their Scottish Covenanter faith, they stood together, tied to a pole in the mudflats of Wigtown Bay, while the tide rose over them.
(Martyrs stake, Wigtown)
This stirring story of faith found a home in Against All Fierce Hostility, book 6 of my Monastery Murders series.
Next Book--More Scottish History
On that same trip 22 years ago, I visited the Isles of Lewis and Harris to learn the story of the remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit that prompted the Hebrides Revival of 1949-1953.
(With Donald John Smith who remembered the revival)
This is a story I have wanted to tell since I first heard of it some 30 years ago. Finally, the time has come. A Wind in the Hebrides will be the next installment in my Monastery Murders series next year.
But first, time out for a great family occasion in the land that has endowed our family with so much of its rich heritage.
(Crow Family 2015)
Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History, has written more than 50 books specializing in British Christianity. These books include: The Monastery Murders, clerical mysteries; Lord Danvers Investigates, Victorian true-crime; The Elizabeth and Richard series, literary suspense; and Glastonbury, The Novel of Christian England. She loves research and sharing you-are-there experiences with her readers.
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Reader Comments:
Yay! I'm eager to read the Wind in the Hebrides. We had our own small trip to Scotland this year and I thought of your books as we enjoyed Edinburgh and its history. I hope I might get my sister in law as addicted to the Celtic Cross series at I am.
-SheilaDeeth , July 8, 2023
How lovely, Sheila! We are home now from our great adventure--a perfect time for the family! I'm so glad you got to be with your across-the-water family, too!
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