Showing results by narrator "Lesley Mackie" in All Categories

Liz MacMillan has wanted to be a nurse ever since her baby brother died of scarlet fever but her domineering father won't allow it. With the outbreak of war, nursing becomes a patriotic duty and Liz gets her chance, together with her new friend Helen Gallagher, whose large, Irish-Catholic family provides a striking contract to the constraint of the MacMillan household. Working in Glasgow's Western Infirmary, one of the other students, Mario Rossi, touches Liz's heart.

Margaret Kerr of Perth is living in Edinburgh with her uncle Murdoch during the summer of 1297. She'd come to search for her long-absent husband who is in the service of Robert the Bruce. Margaret herself is still loyal to the deposed King John Balliol. Then terrifying raids and a brutal murder on the Kerr property bring the wrath of the English down on the heads of Margaret and her uncle.

It’s 1925, and Kate Cameron is just sixteen when she’s taken on at a shipyard on the Clyde. Kate’s wages are needed, and her school days are over abruptly. When Kate starts attending art classes at weekends, she meets Jack Drummond, whose world is far removed from her own. But Kate’s not equipped to recognise trouble when it’s disguised by charm.

Scotland, 1297. In the weeks leading up to the Battle of Stirling Bridge, Margaret Kerr takes up residence in Stirling town. She has come to discover why the informer who has been providing Wallace and Murray with details of the English plans has become unreliable. Although fearful that she may have inherited her mother's visionary gift and curse, and estranged from her husband, Roger, she is as determined as ever to play her part in saving Scotland from the hammer of Edward Longshanks.

Glasgow, WW2. Despite being shy and reserved, Jeannie finds herself newly engaged to Arthur the day war is announced. Unsure if she would ever get another proposal, Jeanie accepts. But with war raging on, her wedding must wait. As she sets off to work at a munitions factory, she meets Eileen, Janet and Annie. As her new friends reveal their chaotic romances at such a troubling time, Jeannie is grateful to be settled with rigid, formal and straight-talking Arthur. Until she begins to doubt everything.

A young, disabled girl is lost on a winter's night in Leith, unable to help herself or find her way home. Someone is combing the streets, frantically searching for her. Within hours of her disappearance, a body is washed up on Beamer Rock, a tiny island in the Forth being used as part of the foundations for the new Queensferry Bridge. No sooner has DI Alice Rice managed to discover the identity of that body than another one is washed up on the edge of the estuary, in Belhaven Bay.

After becoming pregnant out of wedlock, only to find out her betrothed was already married, Kathy feared for her future. Her mother agreed to pass off baby Dennis as her own, treating Kathy as his older sister instead. Then a chance meeting with Alisdair, a handsome RAF airman, changes everything. They grow close quickly, but when Kathy believes Alisdair has discovered her secret, she runs away from heartbreak by joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service.

1920s. When her father dies, Ellie Douglas has little option but to go into service. Her position takes her out of the life of Frank Rafferty - childhood friend and now a member of one of Glasgow's notorious gangs - and into the world of Evander Tait - son, heir and black sheep of the Tait household. These two men dominate Ellie's entire life. No one approves of her friendship with Evander and the bond she shares with Frank is misunderstood by everyone.

Summerhills continues the story of the lives and loves of the Ayrton family, in particular that of Major Roger Ayrton M.C., his brother, and three young half-sisters. Roger has made the Army his career. Anne has settled down as housekeeper to old Mr Orme, the rector. Nell looks after the old house, and it is upon her that the comfort and well-being of the family depend. A new generation is growing up. The story begins as Roger flies home to Amberwell on leave, full of plans for his family and home.

Grinding poverty and violence are on everyday part of life in Glasgow's slums during the 1920s. But Josie Collins, whose mother's death has left her alone with her abusive father, has a dream that she'll become a reporter for one of the city's newspapers. But then disaster strikes when Josie reaches sixteen. Forced to give up her unwanted baby, she starts a new life under her mother's maiden name.

It's January 1955, and for the residents of Meadow Lane, a small community of seven terraced houses, each household has its own story.... When Sadie returns to Meadow Lane from Canada with her son and no husband, she throws the small community into turmoil. She tries to rekindle an old flame, despite him now being married with two children. Then Sadie's son, unhappy with his mother, runs away, desperate to get back to Canada to be with his father. Depressed by how life is turning out, Sadie starts drinking, with tragic consequences for those in Meadow Lane....

It is the spring of 1297, and young wife Margaret Kerr is desperately afraid.

Alfie McCreadie wants his twin sister, Nessa, to have the best wedding ever, but he’s not happy at being roped in as wedding planner - especially as, unbelievably, his main assistant seems to be Nessa’s cat, Schubert. Anyway, Alfie is a scientist. He might know his protons from his neutrons, but what does he know about weddings? It’s Nessa who points him in the direction of Bea’s Garden. It’s there he meets Fae Brimham, who might be prettier than any bouquet bloom but doesn’t seem impressed by Alfie’s sensible, scientific side.

When Will Hastie finally decides to retire from the military and return home to Scotland, he intends to settle down on his family estate and learn to become a farmer. But back home, the death of his best friend and neighbour, Rae, during World War II is still strongly felt. In particular, Rae's sister, Patty, has been brooding for the past 10 years over Rae's final letter home from France. When she decides to share the letter with Will, it sends him off to France to discover for himself the circumstances of Rae's death. His discovery there changes the lives of all those left behind.

While her mother is at home giving birth, 11-year-old Isa must look after her younger siblings, but when her little sister is killed in an accident on a train line she carries the guilt through the rest of her life. As Isa grows up, more tragedy strikes. Yet there is only so much Isa can endure over the years, and discovering her husband’s affair is the final straw. Believing she has failed as a sister, a daughter, a wife and a mother, she makes an irrevocable decision....

When Sheena is forced to move back to Kiltie Street, she is unsure how she will start all over again. With the help of friends old and new, she finds work at a garment factory. And though she catches the eye of some local men, her fiance Jimmy, serving overseas, is never far from her mind. As life settles down, a surprise appears at Sheena's door: a woman named Amy, claiming to be her cousin. Amy has strange habits and a frantic personality - but Sheena agrees to house her for the time being.

Living in the Stationmaster's cottage at Partick, Carrie Burgess leads a charmed life, cushioned from the world of poverty surrounding it. Her only real problem is her mother, who thinks Ewen Livingstone, the railway labourer Carrie's in love with, a poor catch; Matt Campbell, a clerk, seems a much better prospect. Carrie's father dies suddenly and his wife and daughter are forced to move out of their home. Money is tight.

Elsie Weir is trying hard to keep her family together. Living in Kiltie Street tenement in Glasgow with her mother and little sister, Jessie, isn't easy - not least because her mother spends most days in a drunken stupor. But life gets harder still when their mother dies suddenly, leaving Jessie and Elsie broken-hearted. The future looks bleak, until their mother's estranged family deigns to take them in. But their relief is short-lived as it becomes clear the Mearns family have taken in the orphan sisters only for appearances, treating them cruelly behind closed doors.

Coffee, cake and cats. These are a few of Lexie Farrington’s favourite things, and when she walks into the Thistledean Café in Edinburgh, she’s delighted to find all three: coffee, cake, a big black cat on a purple lead being held by a very grumpy-looking pirate. Okay, maybe she wasn’t quite expecting that one. Of course, Billy McCreadie isn’t really a pirate; he is on his way to give a historical talk to school kids

Scotland, 1722: on a windswept island, an enigmatic poetess foretells tragedy and the birth of an extraordinary child. That child is the free-spirited Flora, daughter of Marion. When her father dies, Flora and her mother are plunged into poverty. Until her mother's former lover takes them to Skye, where he swiftly marries Marion. When the Clanranalds are invited to a grand wedding in Skye, Flora finds herself irresistibly drawn to Allan of Kingsburgh, one of the mighty Skye MacDonalds.