The Banner of Blue 12+

📗 ‘The mosses of Galloway, the hill-mists and sea-breezes, the hundred touches of the student of nature to the manor born, combine with good characterization of his countrymen. Mr Crockett has given us another moving drama of comparatively modern life. Clothed in such warm, living humanity, the author’s knowledge of the time and the men of it, have never been put to better account than in some of the pictures and characters he presents us with, and in the portrayal of which he is at his best.’ This is far from a dry tale of religious dissention; rather it uses ‘The Disruption’ of 1843 as an analogy for Scottish social life, especially the dissention within families. The range of narrative voices and editorial ‘intrusions’ throughout offer a sophisticated way of addressing some complex issues, but to the fore is the range of love stories which drive the action and keep the reader hoping that things will turn out right in the end. Humour and irony are far more obvious than morals or preaching in this rousing romance.