The MacLeans live in a close-knit community in Glasgow at the start of the Second World War. When Ruby MacLean is seventeen, she falls pregnant and is forced to marry Gerry Reilly. As their daughter is born, Gerry heads off to war, leaving Ruby to cope alone. Many years later, now retired, Ruby looks back at her family history and uncovers a tale of lies that she could never have suspected...

Family prejudice forces a young couple to flee to Glasgow in World War One, where tragedy and deceit shapes their future. They called her Auld Nally - the local moneylender in one of Glasgow's roughest areas, Inchcraig. But once she'd been Alice McInally from Belfast, beautiful and beloved by her childhood sweetheart. Though his family was Catholic and her Protestant, their families had been close for generations, and the young couple were too naive to anticipate the angry opposition their...

*Now features never-before-published extra chapter*Glasgow in the 1950s was a deprived and often violent place. Meg Henderson was part of a large family, and when the tenement block in which they lived collapsed they had to move to the notorious Blackhill district where religious sectarianism and gang warfare were part of daily life. Yet despite appalling conditions , there was warmth, laughter and a remarkable spirit, andMeg's mother and her Aunt Peggy, both ideal...

They called her Auld Nally - the local moneylender in one of Glasgow's roughest areas. But once she'd been Alice McInally, beautiful and loved by her childhood sweetheart. She hadn't anticipated the outcry when they announced their betrothal - he was Catholic and she was Protestant. Cast out by their well-to-do families, the couple's hope of a bright future flounders in the realities of World War I Glasgow, where Alice struggles to make ends meet in the only way she can. Somehow, she will ...

All the Summer Girls by Meg Donohue is a riveting coming-of-age tale set on the New Jersey shore. Donohue, the author of the bestselling novel How to Eat a Cupcake, is a master of literary fiction; her skill is demonstrated in this charming and moving second novel.Set among the sunsets and dunes, All the Summer Girls is the story of how three former best friends, their lives rapidly unraveling, are reunited at the beach town of their past—where the ambien...

This novel has it all - humour amid the sadness, bravery, hope, love and the tragedy of young lives lived and lost during World War II' - Aberdeen Press & Journal 'The author of "Second Sight", Meg Henderson is one of Scotland's bestselling novelists and here she presents us with another hugely absorbing story' - Cork Evening Echo 'Henderson's evocation of women's wartime experiences is compelling' - Glasgow Herald 'Keep the hankies nearby for this truly beautiful, bittersweet story of lov...

Kathy Kelly, born in the heart of Glasgow's East End, comes from a family torn apart by conflict. She grows up with a sharp wit and a quick temper, constantly challenging those who cross her: her reproving grandmother, Con, her hard-drinking father, even the local priest - Kathy takes no prisoners. But at least she copes, unlike her older brother Peter, who disappears as fast as he can. Kathy also escapes - to the Highlands. Here she finds work and a home with the Macdonalds, an eccentric,...

Relating the three women's histories in overlapping sequence, Henderson weaves a warmly approachable, robustly character-based narrative, deftly infused with idioms and cadences. A convincing, thoughtfully-wrought portrayal of how economics and the elements interact with the individual' - Scotland on Sunday 'A moving commemoration of what may prove to be a dying industry and way of life' - Sunday Herald 'Heartfelt and relevant. Brings the past alive. Stuffed full of a larger than life cast...

The moving story of a woman sending her pilot son away to fight in the Second World War - from one of Scotland's bestselling, best-loved storytellers Nancy MacLeod's great-great-grandfather brought his family to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia from Raasay, a tiny Scottish island, in the 1840s, in hope of a better life. They prospered in this new world, despite the harsh and unforgiving winters, but clung on to their old traditions and customs for comfort. Born at the beginning of a new century, N...

Orkney 1942. Forbidden lovers, divided by war, united by a secret act of creation.Amid the turmoil of the Second World War, a group of Italian prisoners is sent to the remote Orkney island of Lamb Holm. In the freezing conditions, hunger and untold hardships of Camp 60, this ragtag band must work together to survive.Domenico, a talented artist, is among them. He inspires his comrades to create a symbol of peace during these dark days of war, and out of drif...

When a young woman faces unimaginable heartache, she vows to make a difference...A moving saga of anguish, hope and never-ceasing fortitude, The Empty Cradle is a spell-binding and unforgettable tale from bestselling author of No One's Girl, Mothering Sunday and The Little Angel, Rosie Goodwin. Perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries and Dilly Court.'Goodwin uses her deft touch, natura...

The Breadmaker's Saga follows the story of a Glasgow working class community living through the dark days of the Depression and the Second World War.Clydend, McNair's Bakery and the surrounding tenements, are all vividly and absorbingly depicted, as are the lives and loves of people like Catriona, a young woman trying to cope with an overbearing husband; the foreman baker Baldy Fowler and his tragic wife, Sarah; Alec Jackson, the philandering insurance sal...