Guest Post : The Inspiration Behind My Novel by Marie Macpherson, Author of The Last Blast of theTrumpet

Publication Date: 24 August 2020
Publisher: Penmore Press
Print Length: 409 Pages
Series: Book 3 of the Knox Trilogy
Genre: Historical Fiction/Biographical Fiction

Synopsis

Conflict, Chaos and Corruption in Reformation Scotland.

He wants to reform Scotland, but his enemies will stop at nothing to prevent him.

Scotland 1559: Fiery reformer John Knox returns to a Scotland on the brink of civil war. Victorious, he feels confident of his place leading the reform until the charismatic young widow, Mary Queen of Scots returns to claim her throne. She challenges his position and initiates a ferocious battle of wills as they strive to win the hearts and minds of the Scots. But the treachery and jealousy that surrounds them both as they make critical choices in their public and private lives has dangerous consequences that neither of them can imagine.

In this final instalment of the trilogy of the fiery reformer John Knox, Macpherson tells the story of a man and a queen at one of the most critical phases of Scottish history.

The Inspiration Behind The Last Blast of the trumpet

Conflict, Chaos and Corruption in Reformation Scotland

When an irresistible force such as you
Meets an old immovable object like me
You can bet just as sure as you live
Something’s gotta give …

As I was writing The Last Blast of the Trumpet the lines from this song kept birling round my brain. The last part of the Knox trilogy features a clash of indomitable wills between the fiery Protestant minister, John Knox, and the legendary Catholic monarch, Mary, Queen of Scots, at a crucial point in Scottish history.

The First Blast of the Trumpet and The Second Blast of the Trumpet followed Knox from his humble birth in Haddington, East Lothian, and education as a Roman Catholic priest to his imprisonment in the French galleys and eventual exile in England and Geneva, Switzerland. There he was prompted to write his notorious tract The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women. In this diatribe directed against the three Marys–Mary Tudor in England, Marie de Guise in Scotland and Mary, Queen of Scots–he voiced his view that it was against both natural and divine law for women to hold the reins of power. Though in tune with most of his male contemporaries, Knox was criticised for bawling it more stridently and clamouring for the female sovereigns to be deposed. Despite his making an exception for her, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth was not amused and refused him entry back into England.

The Last Blast of the Trumpet opens with his dramatic return to Scotland in May 1559. Summoned by the Lords of the Congregation to lead the Protestant Reformation, he first has to contend with the doughty regent, Mary’s French Catholic mother, Marie de Guise. A civil war breaks out, ended only by the regent’s death. Knox’s victory seems assured, but fate deals him a cruel blow with another death, that of Mary’s husband, King François. Now that she is no longer Queen of France, one of the most powerful nations in Europe, Scotland awaits her next step.

On 19 August 1561, Mary Stewart lands at the port of Leith. The 18-year-old widow queen has come to claim her crown, her country and restore the Catholic faith to her people. Brought up in the comfort of the French court with a strong sense of entitlement the pampered princess expects to be welcomed and lauded as her nation’s sovereign. But she has underestimated the power of the equally charismatic preacher Knox.

Waiting in his lair in the High Street, the middle-aged radical cleric furrows his black eyebrows and strokes his grey beard, wondering why God has allowed this to happen. The former priest turned preacher who endured 19 months as a galley slave being whipped and tortured for his faith is unwilling to hand over power on a plate to this Salomé, this idolatrous Jezebel, a symbol of everything he despises. The prophet of doom interprets Mary’s arrival, shrouded in a dense haar a sour North Sea fog, as a sign of God’s displeasure.

‘The very face of heaven … did manifestly speak what comfort was brought unto this country with her, to wit; sorrow, dolour, darkness and all impiety.’

The battle of wills has commenced. Novels, dramas and films have explored the fascinating relationship of the two queens, Elizabeth Tudor of England, and Mary Stewart of Scotland, and many have engineered a meeting between the cousins who never actually met. However, few have explored the meetings that did take place, a series of at least five equally titanic clashes, between Mary and her bête noir, Knox. The French-raised Roman Catholic queen and the Calvinist reformer make brilliant antagonists. Mary and her retinue of ladies, with their youthful joie de vivre and feminine qualities stand in stark contrast to the puritanical Knox with his masculine values of restraint and austerity.

Yet both believe that God is on their side: Mary as an anointed queen and Knox as God’s chosen messenger. Both believe themselves beloved by their people. Both have been exiled and have returned home to stake their claim, but only one can win the hearts and minds of the Scots.

Their interviews were recorded by Knox–no doubt to his advantage–but what I found surprising was that the teenaged Mary turns out to be more than a match for the wizened old debater Knox who seemed surprised, if not impressed, by her ability to hold her own against him. Historians have questioned why the queen, having garnered the support of her lords, led by her conniving half-brother, James, didn’t just swat the uncrowned leader away like a pesky fly or even execute him for his treacherous. While Mary dare not punish him for fear of making him a martyr, she could not let his flagrant condemnation of her go unchallenged. She was curious to meet him, not only to work her legendary charm to find a chink in her sworn away enemy’s armour of righteousness but to show him that she was not a frail, empty-headed lass, who had been well-trained in the art of debate by her de Guise uncle a Catholic cardinal. How I’d love to have been a fly on the wall as the monarch and the minister indulged in what Scottish poets of the time called a flyting – a kind of slanging match. In their battle of wits, sometimes for hours on end, I suspect there was a strong frisson between the two, otherwise why did Mary even initiate them or bring them to an abrupt close?

Polar opposites in almost every way; in age, gender, status and temperament as well as religion and destiny has set them at loggerheads, yet they had things in common. Both had tremendous charisma. Nowadays it might be difficult to discard the image of the bible-thumping cartoon Calvinist and rampant misogynist, but Knox was attracted to, and loved, by women. He was a compelling preacher, much like the American evangelist of Scots-Irish descent, Billy Graham, and folk flocked to hear his sermons. Knox turns out to be a family man – husband of two wives, father of five children, a son-in-law – and attracted a large flock of female admirers.

In their personal lives both had suffered the loss of a spouse, and both were seeking a soulmate. Both were criticised for their choice of partner: Mary for secretly marrying the spoilt, spineless Darnley and Knox for taking as his second wife yet another 17-year-old bride. When Mary found out that the 50-year-old preacher had married her distant cousin, Margaret Stewart of Ochiltree, she was furious and stormeth wonderfully. Not only had they wed without her permission, but the low-born cleric was now a member of the noble Stewart clan.

And there is one more fatal tie of kindred that will bind them. James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, is not only Knox’s liege lord but a kinsman, though neither is aware of just how close they are. Both minister and monarch are unprepared for the bear-pit of the Scottish court where simmering jealousy, hate and fierce rivalry are about to erupt into murder and assassination, exile and execution. In a parallel narrative, the novel continues to explore the part that Prioress Elisabeth Hepburn plays in both the lives of her godson, Knox and he great-nephew, Bothwell, with unintended but dangerous consequences.

Set during one of the most turbulent periods in Scottish history, The Last Blast of the Trumpet explores the tangled web of relationships–blood feuds, sibling rivalry, doomed marriages and scandalous love affairs–when religious, political and personal passions run high.

The Last Blast of the Trumpet is available from:
Amazon Au • Amazon UK • Amazon US • Barnes and Noble

Praise for The Last Blast of the Trumpet

‘Macpherson has done for Knox what Hilary Mantel did for Cromwell.’
Scottish Field

‘This richly realized portrait of a complex man in extraordinary times is historical fiction at its finest.’
Linda Porter, author of Crown of Thistles; Katherine the Queen, Royal Renegades; Mistresses: Sex and Scandal at the Court of Charles II

‘Marie Macpherson has once again given us a cavalcade of flesh and blood characters living the early days of the Scottish Reformation in a complex tale told with economy and wit.’
S.G. MacLean, author of The Seeker Series and Alexander Seaton mysteries

About the Author

Scottish writer Marie Macpherson grew up in Musselburgh on the site of the Battle of Pinkie and within sight of Fa’side Castle where tales and legends haunted her imagination. She left the Honest Toun to study Russian at Strathclyde University and spent a year in the former Soviet Union to research her PhD thesis on the 19th century Russian writer Mikhail Lermontov, said to be descended from the Scottish poet and seer, Thomas the Rhymer. Though travelled widely, teaching languages and literature from Madrid to Moscow, she has never lost her enthusiasm for the rich history and culture of her native Scotland.

Writing historical fiction combines her academic’s love of research with a passion for storytelling. Exploring the personal relationships and often hidden motivations of historical characters drives her curiosity.

The Knox Trilogy is a fictional biography of the fiery reformer, John Knox, set during the 16th century Scottish Reformation. Prizes and awards include the Martha Hamilton Prize for Creative Writing from Edinburgh University and Writer of the Year 2011 awarded by Tyne & Esk Writers. She is a member of the Historical Writers’ Association (HWA), the Historical Novel Society (HNS) and the Society of Authors (SoA).

Connect with Marie:
Website • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram • Publisher

Blog Tour Schedule