A review by mcmizzie
Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

I loved this book and I loved even more on my second read of it; my first time through, the extended dialogue on justice, Marx, Locke, and capitalism felt forced. But now I see how Evie Dunmore’s books are just more gently paced and intellectually robust, which I think invite the reader to slow a bit. Hattie is incredibly believable for a woman of her class and I think reviews that call her spoiled are getting it right, if tonally misguided — that’s the whole point. Her transformation is believable and powerful. Lucian is so smoldering and delectable, and I loved this twist on Hades/Persephone Beauty/the Beast. 

I can’t recommend the audiobook — the narrator really emphasizes Hattie’s youth and petulance in a way that I think detracts from her growth as a character.

I LOVE that Lucian is the only one who calls Hattie, Harriet, because he always sees her as the full, complex adult she is even when no one else does. Ugh. So good!!

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, and Death