Laurin Wittig’s latest historical appears to be a kinder, gentler spin on the Taming of the Shrew theme. Elizabeth English took an excellent take at this theme earlier this year with The Linnet, and I was curious to see what Wittig’s tale would bring. Unfortunately, there were just so many things out of kilter with this novel that it is not one I can recommend.

Catriona MacLeod is the only daughter in a house with five brothers. After years of standing up to the torment heaped upon her by her brothers, she has become known far and wide as the Shrew of Assynt. Now she faces the final indignity: Her eldest (and most hated) brother has arranged for her to marry the dreaded Dogface MacDonnell. Catriona cannot stand the thought of marrying the beastly Dogface, so she flees from Assynt.

Of course, Catriona doesn’t get too far in her daring flight in the Scottish Highlands due to the fact that the weather is snowy and she’s so directionally clueless that she can’t even find her way off of her own property. As she is fleeing in the wrong direction, she runs into Tayg Munro.

A well-known warrior, Tayg is so tired of heroism and endless women lapping after him that he has disguised himself as a bard. This would all be well and good, except that Tayg can’t play a blessed note on any instrument except the drum – and that not very well. Tayg decides to aid the Shrew of Assynt in evading her brothers and her livid betrothed.

The novel is set in Robert the Bruce’s Scotland and some reference is made to the politics of the time. The setting could have been fascinating had the history been more fully explained and if the characters acted a bit more plausibly. For example, even though people were supposedly very suspicious of outsiders due to the unrest in Scotland at the time, the incompetent bard is welcomed almost universally without suspicion. No one seems to think anything of the fact that the “bard” they are letting into their homes doesn’t seem to know how to ply his trade.

Catriona can be quite off-putting as well. On one hand, she is brave enough to stand up to the bullying of the men in her life. On the other, however, instead of confronting people effectively, she tends to sulk, scold, and complain and a few chapters of this can be a tad wearisome. Indeed, Catriona is so hostile to Tayg and he is so frustrated by her behavior that the relationship between these two just seems to come out of nowhere. In addition, the book is written in a flat narrative style, making it difficult to feel like one is really getting inside either of the protagonist’s heads.

Because of these problems, Catriona and Tayg’s story never really comes to life. The historical background is fascinating and some of the secondary characters – particularly Catriona’s scholarly brother Ailig – were interesting, but the main plotline disappointed. There are quite a few good Scottish romances out there, but, unfortunately, I can’t count this one among them.