Three generations of ‘hysterical women’ take on systemic corruption and injustice, despite all odds.

"I had read enough mystery stories to know that girls who went out to meet strangers at night never came to a good end..." Stirling, 1877. Lillias Gilfillan, a recently orphaned girl of sixteen, falls in love and elopes with a man who sees her as wealthy and naive: 'a little boat without its oars'. In a sea of rising debt and deception, Lillias must learn quickly, or drown. Glasgow, 1894. Clementina knows little mercy living in a home for 'wayward girls'. With the 'Jingling Devil' always lurking in the shadows and a child growing inside her, can she outrun him and save her best friend in the process? Glasgow, 1919. Mabel is one of the first policewomen in Glasgow, on a mission to find a murderer. In doing so, she finds a web of corruption and now the 'Jingling Devil' wants her dead. 'The Unpicking' spans three generations of 'hysterical women' who take on systemic corruption and injustice, despite all odds.