Isla Dewar crafts compelling narratives that have resonated with readers, leading to a string of bestsellers. Her distinctive voice and engaging storytelling promise an immersive reading experience.
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
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?
Charlie Gavin was abducted as a baby. He didn’t know who he was or where he came from. His mission was to find himself. And when he did, he decided to spend his life finding other lost souls by opening the Be Kindly Missing Persons Bureau.Martha Walters, his assistant, has had her fifteen minutes of almost fame and failed. Now, dealing with her guilt and pain, she lives with her mum and dotes on her young daughter. Charlie appears to be a man who is a loser and dreamer, but, hey, his office is near her house, she can lie in of a morning, take her kid to school and the work isn’t too heart-breaking. Or is it . . . ?
A girl, Nell was convinced, should have a good time at seventeen, have met her true love at eighteen, be engaged at nine, and marry at twenty-one. But Alistair comes from a wealthy family and is studying to be a lawyer, two things that mean that Nell soon has plans to leave her dance hall days far behind her.
Vicar's daughter Izzy feels hugely guilty that she's having a very good war. But when Izzy finds herself falling for the charms of a dashing American doctor it is to Julia and Clare that she turns for help...
In this irresistible and unputdownable novel, Isla Dewar offers searing insight into human nature and relationships while also bringing out the humour of the darkest situations
A delicious and unputdownable read from the irresistible Isla Dewar
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...
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.
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...