Heroes (and Heroines) History Forgot

Sue Lawrence - enthralling novel of whispering secrets of the Angus glens, two world wars, and comforting food.

Caroline Young’s explores the flamboyant Frances Farquharson — a Seattle-born fashion writer turned society icon who transformed Invercauld, Braemar, into a stage for colour, couture and conversation. We trace Frances’s early years in America, her Paris and London fashion life (including work for Harper’s Bazaar), tragic loss, and reinvention as the wife of the Farquharson laird. The story highlights her fearless wardrobe — turbans, tartan capes and Schiaparelli hats — and her championing of local artists and textiles. It’s a portrait of a woman who injected flamboyance into postwar Highland tradition.

Fiona Valpy describes her inspiration and research into her latest book, 'Sisters of the Midnight Sun' - from plunging into the Arctic Ocean for a swim, experiencing Up Helly Aa in Shetland with fearsome (but pretend!) Vikings, uncovering the symbolism of a wearing a paperclip in a lapel, embroidered daisies, and uncovering the bravest of nearly forgotten heroines and seafarers of WW2 in the unforgiving North Sea.