Instagram trip along Scottish castles

What do you think of when you hear the title "A history and guide to Scottish castles"?
Because your expectations are very important to decide whether this book will appeal to you or not.

Scotland is one of the places where I've never been but that is still on my travel bucket list.
That's why I wanted to read this book: to see if I could get interesting, useful and recent information to prepare a trip there.

"For four years I attended Edinburgh's Napier University (an honours degree in journalism, in case you were wondering) …"

Reading this at page 45 of the book left me flabbergasted.
Because from someone who has an 'honours degree in journalism' I expected much better than this ego-centered book that seems to be made to cover her travel expenses.

The content is divided in different regions of Scotland: Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Edinburgh and the Lothians, Glasgow and the Clyde Valley, the Kingdom of Fife, Stirling and Loch Lomond, Argyll and Bute, Ayrshire and Arran, Dundee and Angus, Highlands, Shetland, Orkney, Outer Hebrides, Perth and Kinross, Scottisch Borders, Inner Hebrides.
So far, so good.

"Another castle which provides a day out for the family is Lochore Castle, by Lochore Meadows Park. The ruined structure sits at one of the entrances to the park. I say 'one of' because, on our first visit, we chose the wrong one and faced a 40-minute trudge around the loch in the scorching heat before we reached our destination. The main entrance, which takes you straight to the loch-side activities and is where the castle is located, is near the town of Crosshill, and is definitely the one to shoot for. The other, much smaller, entrance is just past the town of Kelty. We were at first baffled by the tiny car park when my SatNav took us to the Kelty entrance, but assumed the castle and park wouldn't be far away so set off on foot. With me being heavily pregnant and with a walking-averse 5-year-old in tow, the trip seemed to take hours. When we finally (finally) arrived, we realised our mistake, and after a day of exploring and playing we ordered a taxi to take us back around the loch and to our parked car. It was probably the best £14 I've ever spent." (p73-74)

In each of the abovementioned regions there are some castles which are visited by Jenna Raffaelli, her husband with last name Maxwell (which is so funny to her, because probably they're related to the Maxwell family who owned lots of castles earlier, which she brings up numerous times), her 5-year old daughter Sabrina and her son Thomas who was in her womb during most of the visits.
We get to know all sorts of things about them: where they married, that the husband is acrophobic, which ice flavour is her daughter's favourite, …
And sometimes we also get an insight in the childish, whiny, … reasoning of the author herself.

If you like to know these sort of things about an unknown person, then this book is definitely for you.
And I do understand that these sort of memories are fun for the family itself.
But for readers who just want factual info this is 'meh' and it would suffice to say: "Watch out: there are several entrances. If you're in for a 40-minute walk, then the Kelty entrance is recommended as you have to go around the loch by foot to get access to the castle. But people who prefer to start their visit immediately, are better off going to the main entrance near the town of Crosshill."
That's at least what I expect from a book like this and certainly from someone who studied journalism.

"There has been a castle on the site [of St Andrews] since 1189 - a time that predates even Jack Nicklaus's first visit to the famous golf capital - and was always used as a residence for the wealthy and powerful bishops. It was a fun place for me to test my burgeoning Instagram skills and create a reel walking down the steps to the beach with the castle by my side. It got a whopping 36 likes!" (p69)

Now I get why this book sometimes feels like a blog or social media report in book form.
It's based on an Instagram-account.
If you're interested to discover it, you can check out Jenna's Instagram page @queen_ofthecastles where she documented her journey.

As I don't have Instagram, I'll have to do with the pictures in the book.
And there's another reason why this book is absolutely not appealing to me.
When I think of Scottish castles, this also brings expectations of lots of full-page coloured pictures.
What I get instead are a few small black-and-white photographs and on some of these Jenna's family.

To prevent false expectations, another title should've been chosen.
Something in the vein of "My family's instagram trip along Scottish castles".
This would suit the content much more than the actual title.

"Fife is home to around 167 castles … With so many to choose from it was difficult to decide which one to visit first. For this chapter, I turned to trusty TripAdvisor to find out what the public considered to be the top ten." (p69)

First of all, I'd like to know where she got this number.
Looking here for example we can read that there are 173 castles, towers and fortified houses in the county of Fife. A tower or fortified house isn't the same as a castle.

The problem is that the book doesn't have a list of used sources (at least the ARC hasn't).
That's strange for a non-fiction book written by someone who studied journalism.
Because there are lots of facts ánd assumptions written down in this book.
So on which sources are they based?

And TripAdvisor to find out the public's top ten?
Come on, everyone can do that.
Other travellers don't need a book in which the choices are made based on that. They can look it up themselves (for your convenience: click here) and read the reviews of other visitors there as well. Probably those are even more informative than what this book has to offer.
Why not go to official authorities like the HES (Historic Environment Scotland), which she mentions several times?
And I'm sure there are other sources as I encountered many interesting websites.

"My most vivid memory of Stirling Castle is when I worked as an intern at the Scottish Fashion Awards in my early 20s. The awards themselves were held in this spectacular setting, and seeing half-naked models run around backstage among the towers and turrets was quite surreal. The imposing fortification made for a fantastic backdrop to what was on show on the catwalk.
Some ladies I'm glad did not appear that night were some of the many colourful ghosts of Stirling Castle. There have been reports of a 'White', 'Black', 'Green' and even a 'Pink' Lady haunting within its walls." (p84)

And again, a memory of someone I don't know and for whom I don't care.

The haunting ghosts on the other hand are fascinating.
In lots of the castles mentioned in this book there are apparently ghosts to be seen or presences to be felt.
Sometimes the author just names them, but sometimes she adds a bit more background info about the legends.
Is this something everyone believes in?
Of course not. But it adds something to the atmosphere of these castles and it often tells us more about the history. Good storytellers know how to keep the attention of their public. And well-told ghost stories will often do the trick.


"'What is this black rock-type thing?' I asked while browsing the National War Museum located within the castle walls.
'They're actually the toenails of the elephant who used to live in the stables of the castle,' replied a helpful staff member." (p40)

Never heard before that a big grey Sri Lankan lived at Edinburgh Castle.
This is one of the little 'fun facts' that sometimes are sprinkled throughout the text.
These make a welcome change from the rest which is either written down too egocentrical or either presented too dryly as if the many dates and names were just copied from a text book.

Movies and series like Outlander are also regularly mentioned.
Although this is interesting for movie fans it could've been done in a better way.
Just like the entire lay-out in fact.

The different castles aren't separated by a title or even just a white line or by being printed in bold.
So it happens that you're jumping from one castle to the other almost without noticing it.
And in the end, I didn't even care about it anymore.
The only overall feelings that are present after reading (half of) this book are "monotony" and "blandness".

But I'm sure that's not how Scotland really is.
They have such good whisky and apparently interesting myths and legends.
So, to find some of that real Scottish heritage, I'm going to read some books about these subjects instead.
Slàinte!


*Thanks to NetGalley and Pen & Sword History for providing a digital advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.