Showing results by narrator "lesley Mackie" in All Categories

It's January 1955, and for the residents of Meadow Lane, a small community of seven terraced houses, each household has its own story.... When Sadie returns to Meadow Lane from Canada with her son and no husband, she throws the small community into turmoil. She tries to rekindle an old flame, despite him now being married with two children. Then Sadie's son, unhappy with his mother, runs away, desperate to get back to Canada to be with his father. Depressed by how life is turning out, Sadie starts drinking, with tragic consequences for those in Meadow Lane....

When attractive redhead Lorna Fernie is taken on to play saxophone in a post-war Glasgow dance band, she is at first over the moon – especially when she and likeable trumpet player Rod Warren fall in love. But then disaster strikes. Things go wrong between her and Rod. He leaves her life, she loses her job, and it only when she forms her own band – the Melody Girls – that the future gradually brightens.

Leith, 1953: The war is over, a young queen has been crowned and 18-year-old Kirsten Mowat is glad to be out and about with her handsome, dark-haired sweetheart, Duncan Armstrong. But there's a secret in her heart that needs to be told - and when Duncan insists on a shotgun wedding, it sets Kirsten's life along a downward path. Married life brings tragedy, and Kirsten's husband and grudging mother-in-law harden their hearts against the young bride. Beset by grief, Kirsten finds herself alone with her two daughters and vulnerable baby Dixie to care for.

Emma Greig has seen little of the world when she leaves school to become a maid at Bonnybrae Farm. The Sinclair family in turn welcome and reject her: Maggie is kind and warm, and the two girls quickly become close. Her brothers Jim and William are more playful, gently teasing Emma for her youthful innocence. The haughty and aloof Mrs Sinclair, disturbed by her children's friendships with the new maid, resolves to remind Emma of her place on the social divide.

A young, disabled girl is lost on a winter's night in Leith, unable to help herself or find her way home. Someone is combing the streets, frantically searching for her. Within hours of her disappearance, a body is washed up on Beamer Rock, a tiny island in the Forth being used as part of the foundations for the new Queensferry Bridge. No sooner has DI Alice Rice managed to discover the identity of that body than another one is washed up on the edge of the estuary, in Belhaven Bay.

When 17-year-old Marie Sinclair travelled to Strathlinn in Scotland in 1920 to visit her brother and his new family, all she was looking for is rest and recuperation after the death of Lady Hanley, for whom she had been caring for over the past 18 months. But when her pregnant sister-in-law is rushed to hospital, Marie is forced to take on a far greater role in the lives of her Scottish family. And who is Mark Blackford, the new, young Estate owner? Meeting him on the train to Strathlinn, Marie's life becomes entwined with his, as friend, help-meet, and, maybe, something more?

William and Emma Sinclair have settled into life at Moorend Farm in North Yorkshire and live happily with their growing family, believing they have left the shame of their past behind. William is determined to prove his success to his embittered mother and charts a secure living for his sons to follow in his footsteps and reap the benefits of William and his wife's hard work. When Emma takes Jamie and Meg to visit her parents in Scotland, they receive a warm welcome from all their relations, except 'Grandmother Sinclair'.

It's 1962, and Freda Scott and her five schoolmates are eager to embark on their life journeys. Madly in love with the dashing but unattainable Ewan, Freda instead throws herself into a hairdressing career, and soon she and her best friend, Robin, have established their own flourishing business. The future looks rosy - until Freda's life is turned upside down by a brutal attack. As Freda struggles to come to terms with what has happened to her, she relies on her old friends more than ever.

In 1930s Scotland, families are starving and thousands of farms lie derelict. But Fairlyden has survived thanks to Logan Fairly’s skill as a cattle breeder and his wife’s thriftiness. At 17, their daughter Kirsty is fiercely proud of her father, but her brother Luke has no interest in farming – and his fear of animals results in tragedy. Responsibility for Fairlyden is thrust on Kirsty just as the Second World War breaks out. But even in the face of all adversity, Kirsty retains her determination to keep the farm that has been the pride of the Fairlys for generations.

As Mistress of Fairlyden, and happily married to William Fairly, Sarah feels her life complete. But, longing to share the news of her pregnancy with her friend, Beatrice Slater, Sarah goes alone to Muircumwell Mill, where she is attacked by the vengeful Edward Slater. The consequences of the day haunt Sarah, and force her to become the keeper of a disturbing secret. Months later, Alex is born a cripple, whose deformity Sarah blames upon herself. William cannot bear the fact that his son will never be perfect.

May 1945. In post-war Leith, the Anderson family must come to terms with the reality of peacetime Britain. Johnny's hopes of a life in politics finally come true, but will his vows to remain a dutiful husband and father be kept? Peacetime is not easy for Johnny's Polish brother-in-law Hans, either. Meanwhile, nurse Kitty - Johnny's daughter from his first marriage - gets caught up in a sensational trial when her friend Laura's brother is accused of murder.

Coffee, cake and cats. These are a few of Lexie Farrington’s favourite things, and when she walks into the Thistledean Café in Edinburgh, she’s delighted to find all three: coffee, cake, a big black cat on a purple lead being held by a very grumpy-looking pirate. Okay, maybe she wasn’t quite expecting that one. Of course, Billy McCreadie isn’t really a pirate; he is on his way to give a historical talk to school kids

Intelligent, ambitious Elinor Rae, maid at an exclusive ladies’ club in the idyllic Primrose Square, dreams of a better future. Encouraged by her kindly manageress, Elinor enrols in an evening course, where she soon falls for her handsome tutor, Stephen Muirhead. But it is her attraction to charismatic Barry Howat that turns her life upside down. Breaking Stephen’s heart is bad enough, but when Barry signs up to the war effort and reveals his true feelings, Elinor is devastated.

1935: The Depression bites; beautiful Lindy Gillan dreams of getting away from her boring life in Edinburgh’s impoverished Old Town. At least there is dear Neil, a young writer from the same tenement block, whom she has known for years. But when handsome Rod Connor walks into the shop where Lindy works one day, her world is turned upside down.

Soon she has a difficult choice to make between two men - but once made, will she live to regret it? A new arrival, unexpected opportunities, and war clouds on the horizon all have unforeseen repercussions for Lindy, leading to much soul-searching and heartache before she can hope to find lasting happiness.

Orphaned Eliza Dunlop has been working as a companion to a rich but cantankerous old lady, Miss Gregory. When Miss Gregory dies, Eliza is found a new position by the old lady’s lawyer, the oily Mr Humbie. She moves to Fife to take up the job as companion to a young lady, Catriona Stuart, but the situation strikes her as unusal. Why does the housekeeper Mistree Kilbain feel like a jailer? Just who is the mysterious Catriona Stuart? And what role does she have to play in an elaborate plot?

1919. Miss Rina Capel, granddaughter of the Laird of Stavondale, has one ambition - to set aside her life of privilege and become a nurse. But when she is summoned back to Bonnybrae to see her dying grandfather just before her 18th birthday, he reveals to her family secrets which turn her world upside down. In love with a man she can't have, and facing marriage to a man she has never met, Rina must draw on all her reserves of strength and female guile to escape a fate to which her dissolute parents would condemn her.

1895. With five children as well as her husband Sandy to care for, Katy Fraser’s life is always fully occupied. Yet, Katy longs for something else. And when the new minister moves into the manse he agrees to take her on as a housekeeper. Soon she is given a rare opportunity to fulfil her dreams, but Sandy begins to resent her new-found confidence... Eight years later, Katy and Sandy’s brood are fast growing up.

Fiercely independent, Marguerite Sinclair has the opportunity of a lifetime to become a nurse and contribute to the war effort. Meanwhile, Rick, who has loved her from the first moment he saw her, asks her to marry him before being shipped off to the war front. Despite their distance, he pursues her in a romantic cross-country courtship. She refuses him but soon after begins to realise how strong her feelings for him are in his absence. Rick somehow manages to survive the carnage of the war unscathed, but Marguerite has an accident, becoming very ill as a result.

When sisters Lynette and Monnie accompany their father, Edinburgh widower Frank Forester, to the Highland village where he is to be a youth hostel warden, they find the change from city life traumatic…until they find jobs, new friends – and love. Handsome fisherman Torquil captures Monnie's heart, while Lynette, after a fiery start, falls for stern but vulnerable hotel manager Ronan. When Frank, too, finds unexpected happiness with Ishbel, of the village shop, all promises well. But storm clouds gather, and there are choices to be made…

Kilt maker Kirsty Muir finds life hard in 1960s Edinburgh, where money is tight and excitement hard to find. When a charming Scottish fiddler, Jack MacIver, comes into her life and introduces her to a glamorous new world, it seems she has finally found her way out. But Kirsty is left broken-hearted, when he disappears off on tour. Her heart is mended by Andrew Macrae, owner of the kilt shop, and it seems as though Kirsty will find happiness after all.