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Chris - Bravehearts (1998) - Simon - 12-17-2025
The second of two Kent novellas kindly provided in PDF format by Edmund Marlowe, to whom as ever much gratitude.
This one deals with the loving friendships between pairs of boys on opposite sides of the decades-long conflict between Scotland and the English tyrant Edward I, known today as the War of Scottish Independence. All the characters are fictional except for King Edward and Queen Eleanor.
Jamie and Ewan, sons of the laird of Dunmore and chief on the clan Urquhart, find friendship and love in the persons of English boys Robbie, son of a visiting English lord, and Alphonso, son of the king. The happy animality of their early expressions of love gives way to more mature passions and pledges of love that will transcend the bitter rivalries of the war. Death and mourning inevitably play their part in the story, and the ending, while not exactly happy, at least offers some hope for the future.
All complete tosh of course, but like all of Kent's work that we've seen here, it's fun, and for once the narrative holds together, with the boys' growing-up intertwined with historical events. Bannockburn is just around the corner, and the story ends as Edward's son, also Edward, is plotting the final victory over the "rebellious" Scots.
To those of you who know a little of British history it will be clear that the relationships portrayed would be impossible then, given the attitudes that gave rise to the myth of how Edward II died, but hey, don't we all live in a world of harmless fantasy?
As with most of Kent's work, I've had to edit the text lightly, to remove some spelling and grammatical errors, some rogue names that appear randomly, and some OCR issues. Any that remain are my fault, and I apologise for them.