A Slice of Midwestern Scottish Tradition

A slice of Midwestern Scottish Tradition

As winner of the #1924 #pulitzerprizeforfiction , #theablemclaughlins by #margaretwilson centers on an extended Scottish immigrant family who've settled in #iowa in the #civilwarera . After joining the Union Army and witnessing the loss of his younger brother and being held as a prisoner in a #confederatearmyprison , #wullymclaughlin returns home to his expansive brood to discover his intended is a frightened and terrorized woman. As we discover the reason for her descent and his efforts to build a family with her, the ups and down of Scottish Clan life, though transplanted from the Scottish Highlands to the American Plains, still indelibly affects the religious, business and personal lives of everyone in the community. The novel was particularly notable as it was a debut work for Margaret Wilson, herself raised in an extended Scottish family in a rural Iowa town. It was the first in a series of McLaughlin Family novels over many generations and the Pulitzer was just one of a handful of prizes awarded for the novel.

I had looked for a copy of the novel, now in the public domain, as an option in #audible . Rather than finding the book, I found a 17 part podcast broken down by chapter as part of a non-profit effort to resurrect out of print novels for a new audience. While I would have preferred to pay a fee rather than suffer through the same few obnoxious ads, I do appreciate the effort made to make older celebrated works which won't attract the attention of a major publisher due to the inherent unprofitable nature of the work. Likewise, I downloaded a public domain written copy of the novel to read along wih the narration. I appreciate having the opportunity to read important works less interesting to modern tastes. The Able McLaughlins definitely fits into that category.

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