Women in the Jacobite rising will be focus at event marking Battle of Culloden anniversary
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Two award-winning authors will speak at an event in Inverness to celebrate strong women in the Jacobite rising to mark the anniversary of the poignant battle.
Hosted by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) at its Culloden Visitor Centre on Saturday, April 13 – the 278th anniversary of the Battle of Culloden – the event will explore the importance of women to the Jacobite rising and the impact that this had on their families and communitie
Flora Fraser, award-winning historical biographer, and Shona MacLean, author of Waterstone’s Scottish Book of the Year The Bookseller of Inverness, will talk about the strong women who have been the source of inspiration for stories about the Jacobites for many years.
The authors will also discuss authenticity and what that means when writing both fiction and non-fiction.
Gail Cleaver, operations manager at NTS's Culloden cluster said: “We are excited to be hosting Flora and Shona to discuss how the stories of Culloden and the 1745 Jacobite Uprising inspired them to write their books.
"One fact and one fiction, it will be fascinating to gain insight into the ways in which these brilliant authors go about writing – from making fiction feel authentic to the history to meticulously researching historical events. It is set to be a thrilling discussion and our charity is delighted to offer our members and supporters these kind of opportunities to explore Scotland’s heritage in new and engaging ways.”
Pretty Young Rebel by Flora Fraser is the true story of Scottish heroine Flora Macdonald. It is a tale of adventure and daring, wit and charm, struggle and survival, and of a woman who showed extraordinary courage in the face of great danger.
Speaking about the upcoming event Flora Fraser said: “It’s a great honour to speak on the battlefield about Pretty Young Rebel, my biography of Flora Macdonald, and about The Bookseller of Inverness with its author Shona Maclean, whose work I greatly admire.
"I hope we can explore how Flora Macdonald’s charm and canny ways helped her to navigate a path through civil war both at home and later in North America. And I look forward as eagerly to discussing other Women of Culloden who have contributed to Jacobite history, both in the ’45 and since then.”
Shona MacLean’s historical thriller, The Bookseller of Inverness, won the Waterstone’s Scottish Book of the Year in 2023. Set just after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the After Culloden, Iain MacGillivray was left for dead on Drumossie Moor. Wounded, his face brutally slashed, he survived only by pretending to be dead as the Redcoats patrolled the corpses of his Jacobite comrades.
Shona MacLean said, “I’m very honoured to have been asked to take part in this commemoration event and to have an opportunity to talk about my fictionalisation of the experience of women crucial to events around the ’45 rising alongside Flora Fraser whose Pretty Young Rebel demonstrates the importance of considering the impact of these events on the lives of real women for decades to come.”
The event will begin at 2.30pm and will be followed by tea and cake at 3.30pm.
