The Laird of Lochandee [Hardcover]

Gwen Kirkwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

Connor O'Brian's dying wish is for his young and beautiful daughter, Rachel, to be taken in by his old friend, Maxwell Connor and his family. Despite the cruelty of Maxwell's wife, Gertrude, her son and Rachel soon fall in love. One morning Rachel and Ross have disappeared, but when an abused Rachel is found wandering the Scottish lanes, it is obvious she hasn't eloped with Ross, as first thought. After years of bitterness and deeply buried secrets, Ross and Rachel are eventually reunited and they begin their life together farming the land on the Glens of Lochandee. They face both happiness and strife; bouts of diphtheria and foot and mouth, affecting both animal and human life. Through the hardship of war and the joy of the land, the Glens of Lochandee survive to give hope and life to another generation and the desires, hopes and secrets of her inhabitants fertilise the land for the future to come.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Right before 16-year-old Rachel's father dies, he asks his friend, Maxwell Connor, to take her into his home. Maxwell readily agrees, but his formidable wife, Gertrude, subjects Rachel to constant cruelty and verbal abuse. In her Cinderella-like existence, Rachel finds love with the Connors' son, Ross, but Gertrude sends Ross away, whips a now pregnant Rachel, and kicks her out of the house. As Rachel struggles to survive, Ross, ignorant of Rachel's condition, begins working at Lochandee, a dairy farm. Finally reunited, they suffer, over the course of 20 years, through diphtheria, hoof-and-mouth disease, the death of a child, a threat of eviction, poverty, World War II, and many other calamities. Set against a background of world events during the thirties and forties, Kirkwood's tale of an unlucky Scottish couple will interest fans of soap operas, miniseries, and sagas such as Colleen McCullough's The Thorn Birds. Shelley Mosley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Kirkwood was born on a Yorkshire farm. She went to Agriculture College before marrying a Scottish dairy farmer.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727858777
• ISBN-13: 978-0727858771
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,334,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I live in Scotland U.K. and I have written 15 family sagas with authentic farm and country backgrounds, mainly set in Scotland. So far I have written them in series spanning three to four generations. Each book stands alone but I believe they are more enjoyable read in sequence. They are available in many UK libraries and on the internet. I have also written 6 shorter romantic novels under the pseudonymn Lynn Granger. I am presently uploading these as E-readers under my own name to avoid confusion.
I have been a member of the Romantic Novelists Association for many years and enjoy the yearly Conference. I won the Elizabeth Goudge Trophy in 2000.

I went to school in Yorkshire, then Agricultural College, but I have lived most of my adult life in Scotland. My own background is dairyfarming but I enjoy gardening, cooking, reading, walking and my grandchildren.