Magnusson blends history with folklore so cleverly you can barely see the seams. At times, though the book was slow going and I felt each character needed a more distinctive voice.

This is a satisfying read which pulls you into the world of Victorian engineers in highland Scotland and the hard lives of the navvies labouring to build a new water supply to the slums of Glasgow. It is the story of Issy Laird who accompanies her doctor husband to the wilds of Loch Katrine where he sets up shop to attend to the health of the workforce. Poor Issy has borne eight stillborn children and her ninth pregnancy is the Ninth Child of the book’s title. Sally Magnusson blends fairy folklore and historic facts to produce a very readable and well researched book which engages her audience.

An intriguing story wound around the building of Glasgow’s first water supply. Interesting characters.

Isabel Aird accompanies her doctor husband to Loch Katrine during the building of the aqueduct system to provide clean drinking water for Glasgow. Based on historical fact.

Whilst living there she encounters the sinister Robert Kirke. I found the Scottish folklore quite confusing at times.

Having really enjoyed Sally Magnusson's first novel, The Sealwoman's Gift, I was very keen to read her latest fiction, The Ninth Child. It confirmed for me that Sally Magnusson is a superb story teller who meticulously researches the locations and events of her tales. Issy Aird, the book's main character, is a s middle class Victorian woman, married to a Glasgow doctor. They move to rural Scotland (the Trossachs) so that her husband can work as a doctor for those involved in the building of the new waterworks system at Loch Katrine. Issy has had eight miscarriages and still births and this has driven her and her husband apart as they do not know how to talk about their loss. Issy takes to walking alone in the countryside around her new home and encounters a strange man, Robert Kirke, in whose company she finds out more about the countryside and the myths and legends abounding in the area, all the while, unbeknown to her, putting herself in increasing danger. This central plot is surrounded by true tales of the health situation at the time for those in poverty in the cities, for the workers on the water engineering site and for pregnant women. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert also feature in the tale as they visit their Scottish home at Balmoral and open the new waterworks. All the while another narrator Kirsty, tells the story to an unknown audience. Kirsty is the wife of one of the workers and takes on the role of looking after Issy from a slight distance. I found the mix of history and fantasy worked really well as the fantastic was clearly a belief system of the time and place which explained the otherwise inexplicable. The characterisation and sense of place are very well written and I thoroughly recommend this book to lovers of well written historical fiction and those interested in Scottish history and myth,

Folklore woven through with Scottish history ,You can feel the cold and sadness of this poor Doctors wife. Nine babies carried so many unborn. No wonder the mind is taken with the faery and ancient tales among Victorian technology to bring clean water to the highlands. A lovely atmospheric read .

This wasn’t my normal genre and so I must admit took me some time to get through. I did enjoy it and would recommend if this is your bag!

The Ninth Child is a wonderful book. We travel to Scotland during my long-time favourite period of British history and it is set during the Victorian public works initiative to bring fresh water from the Trossachs to disease ridden Glasgow. A great set of characters, an interesting setting, both tranquil and industrial (on a huge scale) and a very good story-line. I read it quickly and was wrapt after the first few pages. Highly recommended for lovers of historical fiction based on real people and events. With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review and e-ARC of this book.

Set in 1856 at Loch Katrina where engineering works are being undertaken to provide clean water for Glasgow. Isabel Aire goes with her husband, a doctor. There she encounters Robert Kirk, but surely he died centuries ago.
Isabel has lost eight babies and now a new one is on the way. Will she deliver a healthy baby or will history repeat itself? Also what does Robert Kirklees want from her? Intriguing novel and very enjoyable read.

I received this pre-publication e-book from John Murray/Two Roads via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

‘The Ninth Child’ tells the story of a massive 19th century engineering project of pipes and aqueducts bringing fresh water from the Highlands into Glasgow’s disease ridden heart. Isabel Aird’s husband is appointed doctor to the engineering camp, and accompanying him takes her to a world entirely at odds with her prior life of drawing rooms and miscarried babies. There she meets meets and employs, Kirsty the wife of a navvy, whose back story and the story of the engineering project and life in the camp are quite compelling. Kirsty’s residual fairy faith lends credence to the proposition that a ragged clergyman is in fact Robert Kirke who disappeared into fairy 200 years earlier and has been returned to the mundane world via a pact to deliver up a ninth child in his stead. We also have curious snap shots of the private lives of Victoria and Albert which are diversions from the plot but allow the author to show off some research.

The story is told variously from the points of view of Isabel, Kirsty, Prince Albert and Robert Kirke. The distinctions between the voices are poorly drawn and the formatting of the ebook supplied by the publishers offered no assistance in distinguishing them - often one voice continuing on from the next without so much as a paragraph break. Kirsty is the ‘main’ narrator and a fabulous character, yet we don’t hear enough of her and her take on life and events. The multitude of perspectives makes for a disjointed narrative and diverts the reader from investing strongly enough in any of the characters, which is a shame given how interesting they all were individually. It feels as though the author couldn’t decide at the planning stage which of the aspects to prioritise, and so stuck them all in for good measure, which serves to dissipate rather than strengthen.

A firm editorial hand might have made this a much better book than it is - as it stands, 3 stars.

I adored this book!

It is not my usual read but the magic and beauty combined with it being set during real events in Scotland made it a great read for me.

This is a well written book with intertwining threads of history and fantasy that work well together, even when you think they shouldn't. Set in the mid to late 1850's, The Ninth Child sits squarely in Queen Victoria's reign as the country suffers from epidemics of cholera with death tolls rising. Isabel and her husband Alexander Aird move to Scotland, where there is a huge public health scheme to build aqueducts and reservoirs in order to improve the quality of water in Glasgow. I found this look at history fascinating as there are various threads that are all drawn upon and expanded upon; you have the history of cholera and the various guesses as to how it spread and how it can be prevented, there is the medical expertise at the time and the differences in operating procedure and wound care. There is also a glance at the mechanics of the water project and it is interesting to see just what went into the endeavour all those years ago.

I felt the merging of the fantastical and the realistic was done well to a point. There is a real sense of being in that historical time with all the value clashes that go with it, and in Isabel's character you find an examination of what gives her value when she can't bear a child to term. The aspects of faerie are perhaps glossed over, with background being given sparingly which I suspect is a sign of the time period - having moved headlong into the industrial ages, stories of fae and their kin would have been seen as superstitious and perhaps childish. But when contrasted with the rich and vibrant tapestry of life in the Scottish highlands that Magnussun presents the reader with, there did seem to be a lack of depth to the fae and that made some of the plot feel weaker than it should have. The character of Robert Kirke is quite well fleshed out, but his time in the world of the fae and their motives for his burden are left up in the air.

Told in four perspectives though, one of the failings of the book is that it is often difficult to know when you have switched and in fact who is talking. Part of this is going to be because I received a review copy and the shifts aren't well defined with occasional shifts happening without even a paragraph break. The perspective of Kirsty, a local women, recently moved to the area with her navvies husband for work, makes up the majority of the novel with periodic third person view for aspects of Isabel's life that Kirsty isn't present for. By and large, these two perspectives work well; the difference in first person and third person point of view easily differentiates them and the voices are quite distinct. You particularly feel for Isabel as she finds a connection to her lost babies in the serenity of the isolated Loch Chon and as she tries to find her footing in the world. The interactions and dialogue are well depicted as well, with the nuances of complex relationships captured well.

The characters and the places come to life and whilst much of the novel is slow, you can't mistake the winding tension as it builds towards something that you can't quite grasp. The perspective of Robert Kirke is a little more baffling; he often only has a paragraph or a couple of lines and there's an opportunity for depth here that is missed. But the most out of place is the perspective switch to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; the only link to the narrative is that the Queen has her ninth child around about the same time but there is very little crossover between the two perspectives and it ends up feeling rather pointless. Some of the interludes are vaguely interesting, but I have to say that they don't really bring anything to the book as a whole.

So, this is a slow piece of work but it is one that is well crafted and well researched. The build up is gradual and takes much of the novel to reach the climatic result, but the vibrant characters and the almost whimsical descriptions of the remote and beautiful landscapes are worth your time. There are some missed opportunities here; I feel more could have been made of the strange and cruel world of the fae and the folklore that lies behind it, which in turn would have given a depth to the fantastical elements that could match the historical. The thread that follows Albert and Victoria seems to have no real place in the story as a whole, and if it's something the author really wanted to include it needed to be more closely tied to the events at Loch Chon. But it's an interesting work and one that I'm glad to have read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my review copy of this novel.

Suspend belief and dip into the world of Faerie

Reverend Robert Kirke was a real 18th-century Episcopalian minister who wrote a book about fairies and was said to have been whisked away by them. In The Ninth Child, he has been let up into the human world in Victorian times, when fairies were a popular, though controversial, subject. He is on a mission. Anyone who has heard of changelings will guess why he befriends pregnant Isabel Aird. Her servant, Kirsty McEchern certainly does, and tries to warn her. To say more would spoil the plot. An absorbing, atmospheric tale let down by a lame ending.

A fantastic read. The unusual premise of setting the Victorian public health crisis against the background of fairytale and myth a really interesting juxtaposition. Cholera/ Clean Drinking Water/ Childlessness and Civil Engineering mixed with the ubiquitous presence of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert surely this is enough of a story? Then add a 17th Century cleric held captive in the Faery realm. Great reading.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed this story very much and felt like I knew each character personally due to the description of them. I enjoyed the storyline. This is not my usual genre but in this instance I am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. Thanks again.

I received this pre-publication e-book from John Murray/Two Roads via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. (Review posted on NetGalley, Goodreads and Amazon.)
The beautifully-written novel tells the story of Isabel Aird, the wife of a Victorian doctor who is called to work on an engineering site at Loch Katrine, where tunnels and aqueducts are being constructed in order to bring badly-needed clean water to Glasgow. Isabel accompanies her husband to the site – reluctantly at first, but then she falls in love with the place and elects to stay with him. The loch and its surroundings, still beautiful despite the desecration caused by the engineering work, start to bring her peace and allow her to begin to come to terms with the loss of eight babies to miscarriage.
Isabel gradually forges a relationship with the place and some of its people, including Kirsty, the wife of one of the navvies who becomes her maid, and the strange and unworldly Reverend Kirke; indeed, as it turns out, he is not of the same world, being a visitor from the land of faery who has been tasked with the theft of a child. When Isabel becomes pregnant with her ninth child, Kirke sees his chance.
The novel is told from multiple points of view, which was a little confusing in this ARC which perhaps lacked some of the distinguishing formatting which might have made the POVs easier to distinguish. Other reviewers have also noted this confusion, but in fact I found that the voices were distinct enough that they were easily distinguished once I was in the flow of the narrative.
The tension builds beautifully and the final events are shocking and tragic, but also redemptive. This book was my first by Sally Magnusson, but I will certainly be reading more of her work. It is a lyrical and readable mix of historical fact, fairytale and morality story, with a bit of romance and tragedy thrown in. Highly recommended.

A stunning read! Beautiful scenery, characters full of life and emotion that you can feel. A tale of love , loss and myth brought to life. The last third of the novel had me on the edge of my seat. Absolutely fantastic!

I found this book interesting and thought provoking.It is set in Victorian Scotland at a time when there were great developments in both engineering,medicine and public health.The main character,Isabel Aird ,goes to Loch Katrine when her husband is appointed as doctor to the workers digging the tunnel which will bring clean water from there to Glasgow.At first she doesn't want to be there,but when she sees the spirits of her lost babies there,she finds comfort in the beautiful surroundings and begins to recover .
However,the digging has disturbed the supernatural fairy world,and brings dark forces to,the surface,which change the lives of all the characters.
The book is narrated by different characters and at first I found it confusing,as the ARC didn't differentiate between them,but gradually I got to know the different voices.It is a good mix of history and fantasy,and I enjoyed it very much.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

This novel, set in mid 19th century Scotland and the Isle of Wight, is an absorbing tale of stalking and child-theft in a landscape where myth and superstition are never far away from becoming reality, even as technological progress improves the lot of mankind. The author does not flinch from showing the reader either the dangers of civil engineering, as far as the Navvies are concerned, or the utterly dreadful, disease-ridden conditions in the city of Glasgow which an unprecedented civil engineering project is designed to address. Men do difficult and dangerous work, because it is needed desperately.

Where the author finds fault with the ethos of the age where many such improvements are made, is that women were not supposed to play much of a part in the enterprise. The preview of this work said that it was a great age for innovation but a bad time to be a woman. In fact, The Ninth Child shows us that the mid 19th century was the time when even that began to change. There are some scenes involving Queen Victoria and it would be quite impossible to write an accurate portrait of the changing role of women in 19th century Britain that did not refer to her! But the author shows us other, strong-willed Victorian women as well, both high and low.

This is a thriller, too, and it keeps up the tension until the end. Well told -and the author chooses the tensest part of the drama to show us why there is no word for “manana” in Gaelic, because there is no need for such indecent haste.

A good story, with poetic licence of Scottish history. It is the authors view, with research, of happenings in Aberfoyle in the 1700. A goo read, well written.