Dream a Little Dream
The formulation of stories within the historical fiction genre is often accompanied by some anticipation as the tale develops along unusual paths. Sadly, there is an enormous amount of predictability in this latest offering from Rosie Archer, following four so-called lumberjills who are posted to the estate of a Scottish laird, Noah MacKay. The Forestry Commission had not pre-warned MacKay to expect women, but as The Second World War was underway, most able-bodied men were fighting on the front. This naivety results in MacKay’s immediate decision to send them back whence they came without questioning their skills nor assessing their ability to undertake the tasks of measuring, felling, preparing and dispatching the lumber from his forests. Neither does he expect that they could find a local sawmill that will give him a welcome income whilst also helping the war effort by supplying the much-needed materials that have previously been shipped from Scandinavia. But this intrepid foursome chooses to stay and prove their worth on the estate. Needless to say, a laird who is unattached, with a bevy of young single women living under his roof, is bound to fall for the charms of one of these strong-minded workers, and hence a romance blossoms between MacKay and one of the lumberjills.
While acknowledging that the lack of novelty will not faze many aficionados of novels of this genre, it would surely be sensible of an author to look for some originality when deciding the outcome for their tale.
