The Gourlay Girls

Caitlin McBride · Hugh McAllister · Margaret Thomson Davis

Jun 2001 · The Clydesiders Trilogy Book 2 · Black & White Publishing

About this ebook

In Glasgow at the beginning of the 1930s, the lives of two very different families are about to be changed forever by a tragedy that seems to defy explanation. In their splendid home in the West End, everything seems perfect in the comfortable, privileged lives of bestselling novelist Nicholas Cartwright, his beautiful wife Virginia and their two children. Until one dreadful day, when their world is touched by tragedy and they find themselves struggling to come to terms with a mystery that will haunt them for years to come. Meanwhile, in the run-down tenements of Springburn, the Gourlay family are battling to make ends meet. The Depression has hit Glasgow hard, Erchie Gourlay is unemployed, and only the long hours his daughters spend sewing and dressmaking keeps the spectre of poverty at bay. The future looks bleak for the Gourlays, until the arrival of a destitute young girl on their doorstep brings them new hope for a better life. An enthralling tale of two families, The Gourlay Girls captures the unique atmosphere of Glasgow in the 1930s - from the spectacular Empire Exhibition to the coming of the Second World War.

About the author

Margaret Thomson Davis was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland on May 24, 1926. She left school and began a lifelong practice of observational writing. While writing stories and sketches for magazines, she worked in factories and nurseries. She wrote more than 35 novels during her lifetime including The Breadmakers, A Baby Might Be Crying, A Sort of Peace, The Dark Side of Pleasure, In Light and Dark, Goodmans of Glassford Street, and the Clydesiders trilogy. She also wrote two autobiographies entitled Making of a Novelist and Write from the Heart. She died on June 14, 2016 at the age of 90.