Showing results by narrator "lesley Mackie" in All Categories

When Will Hastie finally decides to retire from the military and return home to Scotland, he intends to settle down on his family estate and learn to become a farmer. But back home, the death of his best friend and neighbour, Rae, during World War II is still strongly felt. In particular, Rae's sister, Patty, has been brooding for the past 10 years over Rae's final letter home from France. When she decides to share the letter with Will, it sends him off to France to discover for himself the circumstances of Rae's death. His discovery there changes the lives of all those left behind.

Five young Ayrtons all grew up at Amberwell, playing in the gardens and preparing themselves to venture out into the world. To each of these children, Amberwell meant something different, but common to all of them was the idea that Amberwell was more than just where they lived - it was part of them.

After spending time combatting terrorists in Malaya, James Dering returns to Scotland. He starts a new life at Mureth House, the home of his aunt and uncle, Mamie and Jock Johnstone, where he hopes to learn to be a farmer. But he soon learns that picking up farming isn't an easy task and is made even more complicated by the unexpected ups and down of rural village life. Sheep-stealing crooks, village gossip, lovestruck teenage runaways, and a brunette bombshell all disturb the peaceful solitude James had willingly signed up for.

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.

Elsie Weir is trying hard to keep her family together. Living in Kiltie Street tenement in Glasgow with her mother and little sister, Jessie, isn't easy - not least because her mother spends most days in a drunken stupor. But life gets harder still when their mother dies suddenly, leaving Jessie and Elsie broken-hearted. The future looks bleak, until their mother's estranged family deigns to take them in. But their relief is short-lived as it becomes clear the Mearns family have taken in the orphan sisters only for appearances, treating them cruelly behind closed doors.

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'.

Filled with excitement and trepidation, Jeanie Munro is returning to India and her husband, Mungo, having been forced apart from him by the Second World War. Together, they can start their longed-for family. But post-war India is in a ferment of change and the undercurrents of tension begin to disturb their tranquillity. Still grieving for her beloved brother, killed in action, Jeanie tries to make the most of her new life. Her only true friends are the Lomaxes, a family haunted by scandal and owners of the glamorous Raj Hotel.

Glasgow, WW2. Despite being shy and reserved, Jeannie finds herself newly engaged to Arthur the day war is announced. Unsure if she would ever get another proposal, Jeanie accepts. But with war raging on, her wedding must wait. As she sets off to work at a munitions factory, she meets Eileen, Janet and Annie. As her new friends reveal their chaotic romances at such a troubling time, Jeannie is grateful to be settled with rigid, formal and straight-talking Arthur. Until she begins to doubt everything.

Alfie McCreadie wants his twin sister, Nessa, to have the best wedding ever, but he’s not happy at being roped in as wedding planner - especially as, unbelievably, his main assistant seems to be Nessa’s cat, Schubert. Anyway, Alfie is a scientist. He might know his protons from his neutrons, but what does he know about weddings? It’s Nessa who points him in the direction of Bea’s Garden. It’s there he meets Fae Brimham, who might be prettier than any bouquet bloom but doesn’t seem impressed by Alfie’s sensible, scientific side.

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.

On a night out in Edinburgh, single mum Liza-Belle Graham finds herself revealing her hopes and dreams to a green-eyed stranger. Liza always wanted to run an 'arty-crafty-booky' business, and she’s seen the perfect empty shop to make her dreams a reality. No harm in telling the stranger. It’s not like she’ll see him again.... But Scott McCreadie is no mystery man - he’s an interior designer looking for new premises. And who does Liza bump into when she arranges a viewing? None other than Scott trying to steal her perfect shop!

After the death of leading haematologist Professor Anstruther, antiquarian book dealer Anthony Sparrow is tasked with clearing out his mansion of its books and papers. He soon begins to question the real circumstances of the old man's death: was he in fact murdered, and if so, who was responsible? The answer might be found in the personal diaries and letters which Sparrow unearths. But as he closes in on the answer, the perspective suddenly shifts and everything which he was sure about dissolves into darkness and shadows.

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.

Young Frances Field arrives in a scenic coastal village in Scotland, having escaped her dreary life as an orphan, treated as little more than a servant by an uncle and aunt. Once there, she encounters an array of eccentric locals, the occasional roar of enemy planes overhead and three army wives - Elise, Tommy and Tillie - who become fast friends. Elise warns Frances of the discomforts of military life, but she’s inclined to disregard the advice when she meets the dashing and charming Captain Guy Tarlatan.

With husband Tim stationed in Egypt and her children at boarding school, Hester Christie -affectionately known as 'Mrs Tim' and based loosely on D. E. Stevenson herself - finds herself at a loose end, until her friend Grace takes her at her word and finds her a job with the formidable Erica Clutterbuck, who has opened a new hotel in the Scottish Borders.

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.

Summerhills continues the story of the lives and loves of the Ayrton family, in particular that of Major Roger Ayrton M.C., his brother, and three young half-sisters. Roger has made the Army his career. Anne has settled down as housekeeper to old Mr Orme, the rector. Nell looks after the old house, and it is upon her that the comfort and well-being of the family depend. A new generation is growing up. The story begins as Roger flies home to Amberwell on leave, full of plans for his family and home.

In 1939, the unexpected death of Sandra Anderson dramatically and ruthlessly changes forever the lives of the family she leaves behind. Kitty, her spoiled and pampered 15-year-old daughter, has to give up her dreams of a career as she becomes the family drudge. Sandra's heartbroken husband, Johnny, finds solace for his grief by becoming the main mouthpiece for his trade union in the shipyards, leaving little time for newborn Rosebud, whose birth caused her mother's death.

Jess Raeburn lives with her widowed mother and beautiful sister in a small flat in Leith. Though reasonably content in her job in a department store, Jess dreams of a more exciting life.