I can't say that this was a bad book or anything but it was definitely not my cup of tea. I tried and tried to return to it to finish but could never quite get there.

Many thanks to Lillian de la Torre, Mysterious Press, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

The Heir of Douglas tells the tale of the dubious birthright of a Scottish lord. A baby was born in Paris, but who were the parents? Was the mother Lady Jane Douglas, presumptive heir to the richest title in Scotland? Or was it a chairwoman who sold her infant to give him a better life?

The lady was on the outs with her brother, the current Lord Douglas. Years were spent in legal wrangling. Who won out?
This book left me cold. I admit I never knew about this tidbit of Scottish history and entitlement, but good lord, how bland. I could have skipped this easily.

Maybe it's not fair, but I walked into this book blind, not knowing a whit of the story at all, which isn't like me. However, I felt, from the beginning, that I had been thrown into the deep end with no context as to just whom the people were or why I should care. I stuck with it though and yet still never really cared. The legal shenanigans and writing were obviously enough to keep me with it to the end and I finally had to look up what happened to the person that should have been the star of this show, if not, in the beginning, surely much more in the end on my own.

A chapter or two of explanation at both ends would have sealed the deal for this for me and made me rate it much higher. Instead, I was left swimming and hoping for something that never came.

Was Archibald Douglas Steuwart the rightful Heir of Douglas? The Douglas Cause was one of the greatest civil cases in 18th Century England. Litigation took over seven years, starting in 1761. The legal suit played out over Scotland, England and France, at astounding costs, creating a social feeding frenzy. People chose sides, bets were placed.

Archibald, Duke of Douglas, was jealous of his sister Lady Jane Douglas. The Duke harbored resentment toward her and killed a soldier who showed an interest in her. The Duke and Lady Jane parted ways, Jane now lived on a small stipend provided by the Douglas solicitors. It is no wonder that when Jane married adventurer Colonel John Steuwart, the Duke did not reconcile with his sister. Childless and elderly, the Duke needed to settle his fortune. Since Lady Jane birthed twin boys on July 10, 1748 in Paris, the elder son, Archie, was next in line to become Heir of Douglas. Duke Archibald was determined to prevent this occurrence by all means available. The Duke's cousin of Hamilton now had a son, little Lord Douglas Hamilton. Perhaps he could inherit instead.

Duke Archibald maintained that despite the fact that Lady Jane was pregnant, at the advanced age of 48, there was sketchy documentation of the delivery of twin boys. He called Lady Jane and Colonel John pretenders and schemers. Gossip circulated that Archie and his sickly brother, Sholto, were "purchased" from poverty stricken parents seeking a better life for their sons. While weaker son Sholto died, Archie thrived. Jane continued to make overtures to her brother, but, still harboring resentment, the Duke refused to see Jane and baby Archie and requests fell upon deaf ears.

The Douglas Cause brought forth mind boggling discrepancies and lack of exactness in recording or recalling prior events. Some lost documents were reconstructed from memory where originals were lost. Despite signing affidavits, witnesses misremembered times and places. The Douglas judicial team jockied for position against the Hamilton contingent supporting the right of inheritance of Lord Douglas Hamilton. Barristers sifted through a voluminous number of documents. This scandal and its resolution is still questionable today. "The Heir of Douglas: The Scandal That Rocked Eighteenth-Century England: A True Story" by Lillian de la Torre was a thoroughly researched, detailed treatment of an eighteenth century notorious case.

Thank you Open Road Integrated Media and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Heir of Douglas".

Lady Jane supposedly had twin sons. The youngest dies leaving one as the heir. This book goes through the history of everyone that saw the twins born. It also goes through the history of debunking the birth of any children at all. Did she plan and go through the steps of stealing the children. Or were the children really hers? This book will tell you what was finally decided. Interesting. 5 stars

The Heir of Douglas

The Scandal That Rocked Eighteenth-Century England: A True Story



by Lillian de la Torre

Open Road Integrated Media



History , True Crime

Pub Date 06 Jun 2017

I am reviewing a copy of The Heir of Douglas through Open Road Integragated Media and Netgalley:

In 1748 Lady Jane Douglas (a Scottish Noblewoman) gave birth to twin boys in Paris. Five years later she and one of the boys would die in poverty. In her own country Lady Jane had been a person of consequence she was the only sister and presumptive heir to the richest nobleman in Scotland. She wrote to her brother a month after her twin boys were born.

At the time of the birth of the twins Lady Jane was fifty. This book talks about the case and the fight to discover if Archibald Douglas was Lady Jane's son or not.

I give The Heir of Douglas five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!