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Island of the Swans Ciji Ware Books

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Island of the Swans Ciji Ware Books

It is a rare and special treat to find a novel so engrossing, so engaging; I simply could not put it down. Ciji Ware's impeccable research and her flowing, descriptive writing style brought to life these real, historical characters, so much so that I sometimes felt I was there in the 18th century, witnessing the characters and their worlds in Scotland and England. A touching story of star-crossed lovers, their decisions, their virtues and flaws, and their fates. I look forward to reading more of this author's novels.

A few constructive comments, however. This book was first published in 1989. I recently read the Kindle version and was surprised that a small number of errors had not been detected/corrected in the intervening years:

Several possible anachronisms:
--In a chapter that takes place in 1793 (after the Revolutionary War), there are two references to Maryland as a colony. However, Maryland became a US state in 1788.
--According to the Oxford dictionary, the term "limey" came into use in the late 19th century, about a century after the time period of this novel.
--Also according to the Oxford dictionary, the term "passel" came into use in the mid-19th century.
--Ditto re. Oxford dictionary, the term "blighter" came into use in the early 19th century, a bit later than the time period of this novel.

An unclear phrase that needs to be rewritten: "it was the affair was even more grand".

One instance of what is now generally considered an offensive term: squaw.

A few spelling errors (correction shown in parentheses). For example: mater (matter); lead (led); chagrinned (chagrined); deaths head (death's head); in the middle or the floor (in the middle of the floor); ail (all). A misspelled French word: desolait (désolé).

Several misplaced commas. For example: "never, understood", "couldn't, you".

Unusual/unnecessary hyphens. For example: "needless-to-say".

"American War for Independence": common usage is "American War of Independence".


Tags : Amazon.com: Island of the Swans (9781402222689): Ciji Ware: Books,Ciji Ware,Island of the Swans,Sourcebooks Landmark,1402222688,Biographical,Historical - General,Nobility;Scotland;Fiction.,Scotland;Social life and customs;18th century;Fiction.,Triangles (Interpersonal relations);Fiction.,American Historical Fiction,American Light Romantic Fiction,Fiction,Fiction - Romance,Fiction Biographical,Fiction Historical,Fiction Romance Historical General,Historical fiction,Literary Collections European English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh,Nobility,Romance - Historical - General,Scotland,Triangles (Interpersonal relations)

Island of the Swans Ciji Ware Books Reviews

I am enjoying this book and the peeks into history and historical figures it offers. Well-written novel by Ciji Ware. I noted the original publication date is 1988, so this work pre-dates the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. It is somewhat of that genre --- historical fiction set in the 1700's, but without time traveling. The characters are well-developed and fully human, with flaws, jealousies, and sorrows. they seem to reflect the harshness of that era on both sides of the Atlantic. A good read!
'Tis not to say I didna enjoy the reading of this. 'Twas good fun throughout and a fast, enjoyable read. 'Twould have been better, mayhap, with a wee bit less overblown romance and agonizing over lost or misplaced loves and fits of jealous pique.

The story is set during an exciting and interesting period of history, taking place in parts of Scotland, in London and in the American Colonies within the time frame of 1760-1797. That's a lot of time with lots of things going on but the book does have 565 pages so there was room to put more history in it, provided Ware cut down a bit on the love angle. When she did describe historical events and places, such as pig racing, playing golf, dancing jigs, recruiting soldiers for the Highland forces, incidents with politicians such as Pitt or Fox or the poet Robert Burns, etc., that was all good but a bit too superficial.

Instead we have an in-depth dissection of a love triangle which may not have even been true historically. The existence of Thomas Fraser, Jane Maxwell's childhood friend with whom she forms a love bond for life (like swans, get it?) in the story, cannot even be verified historically and the whole love thing seems blown out of proportion.

Jane and her husband Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon, had a stormy marriage. Ware sees fit to blame a lot of this on the duke's jealousy over Thomas Fraser. Well, maybe that's the case. Or maybe they just had one of those usual upper-class marriages where infidelity was a matter of course.

So I would have loved this book if it had had less soap-opera romance and more history. And another thing that kept the star rating down for me is Ware's overuse and even, at times, misuse of the contractions "'tis" and "'tisn't". That "t" in both stands for the word "it". Does it make sense to say things such as "Oh, you know how it 'tis at my house, Thomas" or "'Tisn't it grand?"? After a while, I was feeling 'tis-ed to death.
Let me first say that I read That Autumn in Edinburgh first, which was a wonderful book...I called it a plaid of writing multiple story lines that when weaved together form a lovely story. Then I placed Island of the Swans on the reading table, something seemed sad about the book struck me and so time passed from one this book arrived and to the time I picked it up. This book spoke to me..."take a chance....pick me up....read me" I devour books, I can recall everything in the book. So when I finally looked at my little reading table there was one book left-Island of the Swans. So for the next 4 days, I read. I rediscovered why CiJI Ware is an extraordinary writer. Jane and Thomas as the swans of Island mate for life, that one incredible person in each other's lives-duty bound they depart, as life and duty pull them apart. They wait for each other, they wait a lifetime and as fate would have it, they do come together, but duty and the price of true love weaves an incredible story of two star-crossed lovers. The breath of historical facts and lavish scenery don't detract from the story, but only enriches this incredible story. So as I look to my To Be Read Table, alas there are now 2 books one of which is That Autumn in Edinburgh and one other...so I pose the question which one do you think I pick up next???
It is a rare and special treat to find a novel so engrossing, so engaging; I simply could not put it down. Ciji Ware's impeccable research and her flowing, descriptive writing style brought to life these real, historical characters, so much so that I sometimes felt I was there in the 18th century, witnessing the characters and their worlds in Scotland and England. A touching story of star-crossed lovers, their decisions, their virtues and flaws, and their fates. I look forward to reading more of this author's novels.

A few constructive comments, however. This book was first published in 1989. I recently read the version and was surprised that a small number of errors had not been detected/corrected in the intervening years

Several possible anachronisms
--In a chapter that takes place in 1793 (after the Revolutionary War), there are two references to Maryland as a colony. However, Maryland became a US state in 1788.
--According to the Oxford dictionary, the term "limey" came into use in the late 19th century, about a century after the time period of this novel.
--Also according to the Oxford dictionary, the term "passel" came into use in the mid-19th century.
--Ditto re. Oxford dictionary, the term "blighter" came into use in the early 19th century, a bit later than the time period of this novel.

An unclear phrase that needs to be rewritten "it was the affair was even more grand".

One instance of what is now generally considered an offensive term squaw.

A few spelling errors (correction shown in parentheses). For example mater (matter); lead (led); chagrinned (chagrined); deaths head (death's head); in the middle or the floor (in the middle of the floor); ail (all). A misspelled French word desolait (désolé).

Several misplaced commas. For example "never, understood", "couldn't, you".

Unusual/unnecessary hyphens. For example "needless-to-say".

"American War for Independence" common usage is "American War of Independence".