‘One man can no more see into the mind of another than he can see inside a stone.’
Shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize, His Bloody Project was the best-selling book in the shortlist that year.
The story is set in a remote Scottish crofting community in 1869. Crofting is a type of land tenure and small scale food production particular to the Scottish Highlands. The author leads us into the unforgiving world of the small village of Culduie which is governed by the harsh local Constable, Lachlan Mackenzie. He is invested by the laird of the land to keep the small crofting community in check. 17 year old crofter, Roderick Macrae feels he and his family are being victimised by Mackenzie and he decides to take action.
The story is written as a memoir of the young Macrae and begins as he is indicted on the charge of 3 brutal murders carried out in his village. The novel is fictional despite beliefs initially to the contrary that it was based on true events. The author tells us the the memoir was based on documents discovered whilst he was researching his own Highland roots. The story leads us on a journey into Macrae’s upbringing, murderous intent and the ensuing trial. First we are presented with the statements of residents of the village commenting on the relationship between the Mackenzie clan and the Macrae family. They provide us with insight into the poverty stricken life of the crofters who farm the land at the mercy of the laird and under the regulation of the Constable. It is a bleak existence and Macrae is a character beset my misfortune at every turn. Knowing no other existence and lacking power to change his life or his family’s for the better, Macrae commits the murders.
Roderick Macrae’s account of his life and the murders is clinical and we begin to question his motivation for the killings. At no time does Macrae deny he committed the crime. The medical reports detail the grizzly crime scenes and the post-mortum examinations. These reports leave the reader with more questions as to why Macrae acted in the manner he did. Did he have mental capacity or is he insane? These are theories examined during the account of the trial and through newspapers of the day. Macrae’s defence lawyer, Simpson puts the insanity plea to the jury with the assistance of 2 physicians, one a purported expert in the new field of medical criminology. Will Macrae hang for his crimes or is he indeed insane?
What I found compelling about the narrative was the plot twists during the trial and the exploration of the history of medicine and psychiatry in feudalistic Scotland. If you are fond of historical fiction and crime novels, you will find this His Bloody Project an interesting read.
