Isla Dewar Boeken

When Iris Chisholm arrives in the tiny Highland community of Green Cairns, she's still in a state of shock - not so much from her husband's untimely death as from the discovery that he'd gambled away all their money and even their home. In addressing the problems of the children at the school where she becomes the only teacher, Iris finds distraction from her worries. Further distractions come in the shape of golden-tongued lawyer Michael and the gentle handyman, Chas. The locals are deliciously outraged at the scandal of a schoolmarm who seems to have a sex life, while so embroiled is Iris that she does not notice what is happening to her own children - who need her just as much as the waifs of Green Cairns...

To the neighbours who helped raise her, Madeline was a opinionated, disruptive, verbose. They blamed it all on her lack of a mother. But Madeline was her father was parent enough. Till he wasn't there for her any more, and Madeline had to grow up fast. Befriended by Annie, she catches a glimpse of normal family life, and sees Annie glow as she marries her adoring Willie. Madeline has never wanted a regular man in her own life, yet somehow she finds herself living in a rambling Highland mansion with Stuart, loving to the point of exhaustion, and painting her heart out. Until life creeps into the idyll with a vengeance...

You can’t change your past. You can only use the experiences you live through to make your future better, wiser. Anna and her best friend George meet every week to remember, to sigh, to laugh, to reminisce about their moments of glory, guilt and mischief and share their sorrows over a glass or three of wine. The things they’ve done still make them blush. Anna wanted to be a poet – a famous poet. George left home in a childish rage and years later returned with her baby.When Anna is asked to look after the boy across the road for a few hours each week, she isn’t sure. She doesn’t really do children. But she takes the job on and, gradually, a child’s view of her world shows her a different place.George remembers a flat she stayed in when she ran away from home. It had the kitchen of all kitchens and, oh, how she’d love to see it again. Anna sets out to see if it still exists and discovers a cookbook full of recipes, intimates notes and drawings from George’s life.Does all this mark an ending or the beginning of something new and marvellous for Anna and George?

An exquisite novel about friendship and community

Ellen Quinn kept her sanity in the suffocating Edinburgh suburb where she grew up by imagining it was a hotbed of intrigue. A neglected child, she's still looking for love as an adult; and so she finds herself married to Daniel. How could she know that he would misbehave? Cora O'Brien is the total opposite; outrageous and outspoken, she inspires the children she teaches with her enthusiasm. The city can't soften her Highland lilt but her lifestyle would raise a few eyebrows back home. But her vividness is a most of her secrets she's still keeping to herself. Fast friends from the start, Ellen and Cora may have plenty to learn about life, but they always have vodka and each other to talk to when the unexpected happens!

In a world shaped by fierce loyalty and tradition, the Clanswomen navigate the complexities of their relationships and roles within their clans. Each character brings a unique perspective, showcasing themes of strength, resilience, and the struggle for identity amidst societal expectations. As they confront challenges, their bonds are tested, revealing the depths of friendship and the power of unity. This exploration of women's lives within a clan system offers a rich tapestry of emotional and cultural insights.

A woman decides that getting by is no longer enough.

A SOJOURNER'S LIFE - The Life of Alexander Maclean is a novel cast in the form of a biography. Alexander Maclean, the product of a colonial and South African childhood set in an era long before the liberalising of South African society after 1994

Compulsively neat, obsessively organised, Lily is a writer who writes about writers. When she is asked to contribute to a book on lost icons, she visits Rita Boothe - photographer, journalist and wit - who took LSD when she was forty and never lived up to her promise. Rita shows Lily some of her photographs, including one of a beautiful, sexy creature drinking Jack Daniels in a white limousine. It is Mattie, Lily's mother. Lily stares in wonder and with envy - she wishes she could live with such abandon. But Mattie is no longer the woman in the limo, and she and Lily's father live in a neglected house with their neglected marriage. Lily and her siblings want to mend their parents' rift, but Marie's husband has walked out, and Rory avoids coming home altogether. Unless something happens, the family's going to fade away. But something is about to happen...

Po odchodu od manžela hrdinku spojuje s rodinou pouze upřímné pouto s tchyní, moudrou a životaznalou ženou, která chce před svou smrtí snaše pomoci navázat zpřetrhané vztahy. Hrdinka žije sama v Londýně, živí se psaním časopiseckých seriálů a třebaže její život není nijak oslnivý, i po letech ji vrcholně uspokojuje pocit osobní svobody a samostatnosti. Smrt tchyně a setkání s dospělými dětmi ji ale postrčí do nové životní etapy, v níž se snaží dohonit, co ve vzájemných vztazích s dětmi zameškala.