Isla Dewar's unique combination of brilliant characterisation, beautifully evoked landscapes and incisive humour is honed to its finest in this lovely novel

To the neighbours who helped raise her, Madeline was a handful: opinionated, disruptive, verbose. They blamed it all on her lack of a mother. But Madeline was happy: 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...

"'A wonderful story... Wit and wisdom in every chapter, a true understanding of women's lives' Sunday Mail" - Sunday Mail

"A Scottish Kate Atkinson, astute, sensitive and a joy to read...a wonderful author" - Bookseller

"'Tender-hearted and poignant...Romantic yet never awash with sentimentality, powerful without being overpowering, Dewar builds the story into a novel of considerable depth' Scotsman" - Scotsman