• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2023 January #1
  Acclaimed screenwriter, director, and novelist Sayles (Yellow Earth, 2020) blends his wide-ranging narrative skills to great effect in this sprawling historical epic. We meet Jamie MacGillivray at the ill-fated 1746 Battle of Culloden, the Jacobite rebellion of Bonnie Prince Charlie Stuart that was summarily quashed by the crown and at which our hero is left for dead. Jamie is sent to prison, escapes the hangman, and is subsequently sentenced to indentured servitude in America. This broad canvas plays to Sayles' considerable strengths, alternating between a wide cinematic lens and the more intimate portraiture of the charismatic MacGillivray. The dialogue is presented in a thick Scottish brogue that takes some getting used to and benefits from being read aloud and, ultimately, proves to be an ideal vehicle for the pithy banter and caustic wit of the rebel class. Jamie's story line runs parallel to that of Jenny Ferguson, a Dickensian figure similarly sent to colonial America and equally adept at staying on this side of the grave. Sayles' grand vision yields a rollicking yarn that will satisfy the discerning historical adventure reader. Copyright 2023 Booklist Reviews.

John Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for Passion Fish (1992) and Lone Star (1996). He has written seven novels, the most recent being Yellow Earth (2020) and A Moment in the Sun (2011).