The Stolen Hours by Karen Swan is a sequel to The Last Summer and part of 'The Wild Isles' series. I read the first book as a pre-release last year and so when I saw this one, I jumped at the chance to read it. I loved being immersed again in the unique community of St Kilda and experiencing it through the eyes of another of the three friends - Effie, Mhairi and Flora.

This was Mhairi's story, a tale of forbidden love and the consequences it wreaks on the small island community in the last days of their existence on the island of St Kilda before being evacuated to the mainland. It made me realise the hardships that women would face even as teenagers of 18 and 19 , and what they would have to look forward to as lives of domesticity and motherhood loomed towards them.

I really enjoyed the story although I didn't like Mhairi as a character as much as I had liked Effie in the previous novel; however, Karen Swan's prose and character development is as beguiling as ever and I would definitely recommend the series.

Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an early release copy in exchange for an honest review.

📚 ARC Review 📚

Title: The Stolen Hours
Author: Karen Swan
Genre: Romantic Suspense/Historical Fiction
Published: 20th July 2023

My thoughts

The Stolen Hours is book 2 of the Wild Isle Series which is set around 1929-1930 on the remote island of St Kilda. It tells the stories of the inhabitants before and after their evacuation from the island and the mysterious death of their Landlord's Factor.

I've been so excited to read this second installment since I finished book 1 last year. Book 1 is told from Effie's POV and ends on a big cliff hanger so I desperately needed to know what happens next. Book 2 answers some questions but also poses new ones. It is also told from Mhairi's POV and begins back on the island. Despite the overlapping time frame the story didn't feel repetitive in any way.

Karen Swan is a master at evoking a strong sense of place. Her writing is powerful and immersive. When I was reading this book I felt I was there on the island with the wind whipping through my hair. I feel that this series is even richer and more immersive than the authors previous standalones and I can't wait to see what book 3 brings.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with a copy to read and review.

Book 2 in the Wild Isle series. It would definitely pay to read book 1 for a full understanding and investment in the characters of this group of friends coming of age on St Kilda, shortly before its evacuation to the mainland.
This book follows the story of Mhairi MacKinnon. She’s one of 9 children and her father can’t support her for another year, so he hatches a plan to marry her off to a young man on Harris. There’s a set of unfortunate events which means she ends up being accompanied to visit the young man by another man from St Kilda, and when she returns home to await her marriage, she’s in love with the wrong man, which is a relationship which can’t continue. The evacuation of St Kilda is on the way too, and everyone’s lives will change. If you have read the first book, there’s also a little more revealed about a previous mystery.
I absolutely loved this. It’s a really emotional, bleak read, showing the real hardships of this isolated existence. Mhairi is a well drawn character who I grew to love, and to feel desperately worried for. I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series.

Mhairi MacKinnon needs a husband.
Its 1929 on St Kilda and life is hard. Mhairi is the eldest of nine of nine children and will need to support herself in the summer.
One of their neighbours, Donald, has a friend on another island who needs a wife for his son. Mhairi is despatched with Donald and returns engaged but her heart and soul has been awakened by another. She will go back in the spring to be married.
News comes that St Kilda is to be evacuated and everyone is to leave their homes and start new lives on the mainland. Then a body is found on the island.

Another brilliant novel from Karen about life in St. Kilda. It’s always captivating to read about life in this remote Scottish island, although it’s a mixture of joy, about romance and relationships, the way everyone in the community pull together and the hardships all endured. Three friends make a pact on the beach, not realising how circumstances would turn out for them, especially after St Kilda was evacuated.

Having read the first of this series based on the Isle of St Kilda, I am so pleased to have come across the sequel. This story overlaps rather than just follows on from the first and cleverly is told from a different characters point of view. It is now Mhairi's story. Such a great idea. As such it works well as a stand alone novel but is even better if you read 'The last summer' first. It makes me even more determined to visit St Kilda one day.

This is the second in the Wild Isles trilogy. It’s possible to read as a stand alone but much better to read in order. There is a very strong sense of place in both novels and the historical context is well researched. The story runs in parallel with Effie*s in the first book but there is no sense of repetition. I absolutely loved this book and look forward to the next instalment. Highly recommended.

Part 2 of the Wild Isle series from Karen Swan - again, just superb, just as brilliant as Part 1, The Last Summer.

This time, its all about Mhairi, and how she was involved in The Last Summer with Effie.

Brilliant! Read it! Immerse yourself and forget about all life´s problems.

I´m seriously hoping there is going to be Part 3......

My thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for giving me the opportunity read an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Despite its often weak, clichéd characterisation — the reader only occasionally gains any real insight into the characters' inner lives — the novel is interesting and entertaining from a historical perspective. The author has clearly conducted extensive research into the period and locations she writes about. Her descriptions of places and living conditions on both St. Kilda and Harris are vibrant and atmospheric, but could be even more colourful and believable if she had endowed her characters with greater depth. The plot in itself is imaginative, although the actual storyarc is evident and predictable right from the Prologue. Perhaps this is another argument for prologues to be scrapped. In my experience they never serve the narrative well.

Many thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for the ARC.

I read and loved the first book in the series and couldn't wait to go back to this world. It jumps back in time to where the first book started but follows the story from the point of view of a different character.

I'm reluctant to say anymore about the storyline because of spoilers. I just loved this as much as the first.

I was delighted to revisit the inhabitants of St Kilda. This is such a clever device, revisiting key moments from the previous novel from someone else's point of view and gaining a completely new perspective on those events. And not, only that, but moving the story on, resolving some cliffhangers and creating some more. Can't wait for part 3.

Although I have read a fair few Karen Swan novels I missed the first of the Wild Isle trilogy. This wasn't a problem as "The Stolen Hours" can be read as a standalone novel.

The Wild Isle is St Kilda, the most remote and westerly of the Hebrides, stuck far out in the Atlantic and cut off for many months of each year. The story covers 1929-30, leading up to and just after the evacuation of St Kilda residents to the Scottish mainland. Life on the islands was hard and the population had dwindled to 36, making it difficult for young women to find husbands. This book centres around Mhairi, one of the daughters of the postmaster.

The book is an eye-opener about the way of life in this far-flung outpost of civilisation, where people spoke Gaelic rather than English and the only wood was washed up on the beaches as there were no trees. The story is as much social history as anything else, which makes it very interesting.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

I couldn't wait for this book to come out to hear the rest of the tale from the Wild Isles. It doesn't let you down. Plenty of intrigue and historical detail. It reminds you of how hard life must have been on the Isles and how romance should have been the sweetener. But so many times it was spoiled. A wonderful book.

I was extremely excited to read this second book in Karen's Swan's series. The first showed what a departure it was from her usual stand-alone stories. However, the level of detail and evident research made that a compelling read.
The Stolen Hours was no different. Written at a parallel time to the first, we see events unfold through the eyes of the second of a trio of friends from St Kilda. The first was Effie's view. This time we learned more about Mhaira.
The oldest daughter of the postmaster, and one of many children, it is high time for her to marry.
Since the island is small and there are scarce prospects, a man is suggested from one of the neighbouring isles.
She meets him and finds some attraction, but confusion sets in as certain feelings she experiences may not be appropriate, especially as they are not all for the man to be her intended.
Back on the isle, there are further problems, which we already know, as a reader, if the first book has been read. Mhaira has several more worries of her own on top of that.
I don't want to spill the beans, as that would ruin it for a prospective reader.
The journey we started at the end of book one is extended further at the end of this book, with the mystery surrounding the factor's death on the island, the day the inhabitants had to evacuate, which is left unsolved, obviously to be revealed during the next book, I guess, but we are given plenty more backstory for the characters we got to know in the first book, as well as more of a glimpse into their futures on the mainland.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot wait for the next book!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an ARC.

Karen Swan has completely outdone herself with The Stolen Hours. In her author’s note she shares that she had to significantly rework this book during the writing phase and her hard work has certainly paid off. Each word seems strategically placed to set a mood, each turn of phrase wielded to construct a time and place. Absolutely brilliant.

While the first book in this series, The Last Summer, spends time building Swan’s world of St Kilda and introducing us to her incredible cast of characters, The Stolen Hours hits the ground running, with copious amounts of action and drama right from the first chapter.

I’ve been a big fan of Karen Swan’s for years and always recommend her books to others, but these books are stand outs and at a whole new level. Constructed from incredible research and showing impressive historical detail, I recommend these to any historical fiction lover. Can’t wait to see what’s next in book three!

Oh I’ve been so excited for this book to arrive and squealed with excitement when I found it on Netgalley. Like Karen herself says in the authors word, I found it hard to let go of Sholto and Effie to begin with. I felt greedy for more information about them and sort of wanted to budge Mhairi and Donald aside, and yet, in no time at all I was bewitched by both their characters and hoping so hard that what felt inevitable with Alexsander would some how change.
Such a gripping book, and clearly a phenomenally talented author. It was fascinating to learn even more about life on St Kilda and indeed Harris too and how modern the kildans found them!
Such a great read and I can’t wait for the next instalment!

This is the second book in the Wild Isle series and is a very good follow on from The Last Summer.
Telling the events on St Kilda in an interesting way which kept me turning the pages.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Although I hadn’t read the first book in the series, I soon became absorbed in this gripping, atmospheric story. Set in St Kilda, a remote Scottish island, during 1929, life was tough for Mhairi MacKinnon and her family. Their life was harsh, living from hand to mouth in intolerable conditions.
This is essentially a love story, filled with passion and forbidden love skilfully described, bringing the characters vibrantly alive. Unexpected twists and turns keep you turning the pages as the story unfolds.
The book is well researched by the author, descriptions about how families lived at the time and the brutality made difficult reading at times. A powerful novel, recommended.

This was a fascinating continuation of the Wild Isle series, this time offering a different perspective of life during the last year of inhabitation on the isle of St Kilda. This book focuses on Mhairi but with echoes of Effie’s story. I found this quite a bleak read as Mhairi was abused and manipulated into agreeing to a marriage she was very unhappy with only to find herself in an even more impossible situation, that said there’s a lot of realism of the times and as a character read it’s very solid. The isle is a fantastic setting and the harsh reality of living there is well reflected in the limitations it puts on the residents as it’s population declines and I’m intrigued by the continuing mystery of the factors death.

A thoroughly enjoyable second book in this series. Strong story line against the background of true events surrounding when St Kilda, an island off the coast of Scotland was evacuated. Karen wonderfully describes the hardships endued by the islanders before they leave the island. Plenty of drama and many twists and turns just want me wanting to read the next installment. Tough but, at the same time, innocent female characters against the rugged landscape of St Kilda. A compelling read