THE FOREST LAIRD: A TALE OF WILLIAM WALLACE by Jack Whyte, 2010.

I picked this up solely by the cover art and author recognition, read the flap and was hooked. Whyte is a noted author of historical fiction, and this novel is part of a new trilogy he's writing, "The Guardians," which will concern the Scottish wars for freedom from England. This book concerns the life of William Wallace, known to many from the "Braveheart" film made some years ago.

   Whyte's book shows he has done his research. Not much of fact is known about William Wallace, but Whyte makes use of what is known and other historical detail about Scotland and its affairs in the 1290s to create his portrait of Will and without bogging down the pace of the story. The novel is told from the point of view of Wallace's cousin, Jamie Wallace, who becomes the cleric librarian/priest Father James. When the two cousins are young boys, English attack the Wallace homestead, killing Wallace's parents and sister, Will and Jamie are abused by the English, and then manage to flee and are taken in by the archer Ewan Scrymgeour, who nurtures and helps guide their futures. Eventually, they are reunited with family, educated at a local monastery, and years later they separate to fulfill their destinies: Jamie to be a priest/librarian, and Will to be an archer of uncommon talents. By the time they are young adults, Scotland is in crisis: the Scots king dies leaving a young heiress named the Maid of Norway who is drowned on her way to take the throne; Edward I of England is invited into Scotland to help settle the dispute between the claimants John Balliol and Robert Bruce; even after John is named King of Scots, the English presence remains and creates mayhem and havoc; and there begins a grassroots surge of folk who wish to drive the English out of Scotland and reclaim their freedom. But without a strong leader, there are multiple factions who don't cooperate and thus create more confusion and misery for all the populace. Wallace, meanwhile marries the love of his life, and begins to lead the life of an outlaw and fugitive on the border, his hatred of the English nurtured by such as Bishop Robert Wishart, but determined to remain apart from the fighting as long it stays away from his door and until a strong leader emerges to engage the English. Jamie moves in and out of his life, supportive of Will and his family, but knowing that eventually the chaos that exists in Scotland will have to be resolved and Wallace must help. And then the terrible day arrives with horrific and heartrending force...and Jamie and Will are forced into action.
   Whyte does a wonderful job of making medieval Scotland come alive as a place of great beauty and harshness, with its volatile politics concerning France and England, its powerful lairds and barons, its rising middle class and the poverty ridden peasants. His characters are colorful, vibrant, and realistically portrayed: his hero Will is conflicted, high minded and compassionate, yet also savage, unforgiving, and violent. Highly readable, with excellent pacing and great storytelling, filled with action and savage violence, gross injustice, love and patriotism, this is a hugely entertaining saga of an enormously talented and strong leader of the Scots people who over time became almost a myth and somewhat neglected by historians but who evidently still lives in Scottish memory as a national hero.