Can Lessie support her loved ones while dealing with her own heartbreak?
Greenock, Scotland, 1916
As the Great War rolls on, Lessie Carswell's grocery shop is thriving, even while the community of Greenock experiences tragic losses.
Lessie's son Ian reaches fighting age and is sent to Ypres. Her daughter Jess, headstrong and self-centred, goes to work for an upmarket dress shop and Lessie's nephew Peter is in prison due to his refusal to fight. Meanwhile Dorothea, the daughter of Lessie's late friend Anna, is working in a cotton mill, still unaware of the identity of her father.
Lessie focuses on expanding her business but when heartbreak and loss plague her again, she must call on her fortitude to stay strong for those around her.
While rebuilding her own life and livelihood, can Lessie remain a paragon of strength for others?
Storytelling at its best, Evelyn Hood is the original bestselling Scottish saga writer