Sheep Are Simply Less Trouble Than Scotsmen
Set in Scotland of the 1790s the curiously titled Sheep Are Simply Less Trouble Than Scotsmen tells the story of Kittie, a young woman reluctantly married off to a much older man because she will become a duchess, and Moehill, the wild Highlander who kidnaps her.
Kittie, who has failed in the task laid upon her by her father and drunken and debauched husband – to produce a son, heir and future duke – spends her long and tedious days ricocheting between secretly reading Fanny Hill and tending her rose garden. But it’s the time of the Clearances, and Kittie is kidnapped as a bargaining tool, for her husband’s Highland tenants are to lose their homes and livings to sheep – hence the title of the book.
To attempt an escape, Kittie decides to seduce Moehill, which is not difficult since there is sexual tension between them. She eventually realises that she’s been mistaken in Moehill’s name, which is her mispronunciation of the Gaelic mo ghaol meaning my love, a joke played on her by her kidnappers which Moehill went along with. But the joke has now become a reality, for Moehill and Kittie have fallen in love.
The story is, at times, rather overwritten for this reader’s taste, with a generous helping of metaphors and similes, not all of which made sense. The Scots words are well chosen, and there is a strong sense of place. Fans of Diana Gabaldon will enjoy this Highland romp.
