The Piper's Tune [Hardcover]

Jessica Stirling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2002

Jessica Stirling's Glasgow comes to scintillating life in a story of love and fortune set in Edwardian Scotland.

Lindsay Franklin's life is an adventure she has just begun to enjoy. At eighteen, Arthur Franklin's cosseted daughter has left her Glasgow school and finds her role as a marriageable young lady with a widowed father more than agreeable. And the source of her family's wealth, the Franklins' shipbuilding yard on Clydeside, is prospering as the long peace of Queen Victoria's reign gives way to the feverish arms race of the new century.

But Lindsay's life takes an unexpected turn when she is given a share of the family business. Equally unexpected is the appearance of Forbes McCullough, her charming Irish cousin whose attentions she secretly welcomes. To everyone's surprise, Lindsay decides to master the family business as carefully as her male cousins. What is not surprising is that several eligible men have decided that it is time to master Lindsay.

As the mysteries of shipbuilding open to her, and the puzzle of male behavior becomes both more fascinating and more dangerous, Lindsay is forced to make some fateful decisions.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The tale of a family-owned ship building firm at the turn of the 20th century, Stirling's novel is an uneven romance that unfolds too slowly. Lindsay, the granddaughter of the family patriarch, shipping magnate Owen Franklin, unexpectedly gets her share, albeit minuscule, of the family business and a troublesome cousin to marry. The manipulations of her husband, Forbes, play counterpoint to the propriety of the Franklin family and the decency of Tom Caulder, whose estranged daughter, Sylvie, Forbes claims as mistress. Much of this is predictable and disappointing. Eve Karpf covers the varied cast of characters reasonably well but is left to whine or wail too often. Not recommended. Joyce Kessel, Villa Maria Coll., Buffalo, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The role of the upper-middle-class woman in Glasgow, Scotland, at the turn of the century is narrowly defined, and 18-year-old Lindsay Franklin's only release comes when she is given a share in the family's shipbuilding business. She starts to attend meetings and finds herself surprisingly interested in the company and her newfound younger cousin from Ireland, Forbes McCullough. A handsome rogue, he pits Lindsay against her equally smitten cousin, Cissie. She senses that there's something a little off about him, but he's very attractive and her grandfather seems to approve, so, in spite of her misgivings, she becomes engaged. Forbes is a scoundrel who genuinely likes Lindsay but wants her for mercenary reasons. They marry, but has Lindsay found love and contentment or does she have to look elsewhere? Stirling brings the Edwardian age to life through her depiction of everyday lives, enhancing the reader's sympathetic response to her characters' hopes and aspirations. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (April 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312288700
• ISBN-13: 978-0312288709
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,962,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful early Edwardian age tale, March 23, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Piper's Tune (Hardcover)

Perhaps it is simply because of his age or more complexly the end of Pax Britannia, but Scottish family patriarch Owen Franklin retires from heading up the family shipbuilding business. While the European superpowers begin an arms race heading towards the Great War, Owen distributes shares of stock to his male descendent and to their shock his granddaughter Lindsay.

Her "partners" believe Lindsay being a teenage female will be easy to manipulate. They even foster an Irish cousin Forbes McCullough on her. However, as the twentieth century begins to unfold, Lindsay is determined to understand her family business so that she can contribute. She quickly learns one of the principles of life that a woman must be at least twice as smart and toil twice as hard as a male to gain a semblance of acceptance and respect. Now she begins a trek to gain control of her life and the family ship building company as the men in her circle try to manipulate her in the boardroom and the bedroom.

THE PIPER'S TUNE, a turn of the previous century character study, digs deep into a bygone era so that fans of historical novels will have a taste for the early Edwardian age. However, the story line moves very slowly as the heroine leisurely and at times tediously learns about life while competing with males. The metamorphosis of Lindsay will engage those readers who relish a casually paced plot that Jessica Stirling microscopically focuses on the heroine.

Harriet Klausner