Margaret Thomson Davis's Books

The Breadmakers Saga

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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The Breadmaker's Saga follows the story of a Glasgow working class community living through the dark days of the Depression and the Second World War. Clydend, McNair's Bakery and the surrounding tenements, are all vividly and absorbingly depicted, as are the lives and loves of people like Catriona, a young woman trying to cope with an overbearing husband; the foreman baker Baldy Fowler and his tragic wife, Sarah; Alec Jackson, the philandering insurance salesman; and a host of other colourful characters, who face up to the ordinary challenges of life and the extraordinary challenges of war with honesty, optimism and hope. 'All human life is there, laughter and tears together.' The Scotsman 'Mrs Davis catches the time with honest-to-goodness certainty.' The Guardian 'Simply written with an exceptional quality of understatement, it wins instant sympathy.' Glasgow Evening Citizen 'A Glaswegian equivalent of Coronation Street.' Daily Express

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Page Count

752

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845025601

ISBN 13

9781845025601

A Deadly Deception

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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A Deadly Deception

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

Set in a Glasgow high-rise, A Deadly Deception centres on Mabel Smith who lives alone in one of the flats. Her selfish parents had used Mabel as a slave and they effectively ruined her life but now they are both dead. Mabel is now getting older and her crippling arthritis means she can only hobble about with the help of her sticks. She feels terribly bitter and lonely. Then, one day, sitting in the doctor's waiting room flicking through a magazine, Mabel notices adverts for phone-sex. She is shocked and appalled but stuffs the magazine into her bag all the same. Later, she finds out how the system works and decides it could be an easy way to make some much-needed extra cash. A thirty-nine-year-old man called John begins phoning her. Mabel tells him her name is Angela and she and John gradually form a close and loving relationship. He, too, is lonely and bitter, after being cruelly deserted by his wife, and he soon becomes eager to find out everything about Angela, especially what she looks like. Mabel then describes a beautiful blonde girl she has seen in the building. John becomes more and more desperate to meet Angela but she keeps putting him off. Eventually he resolves to find her and punish her for tormenting him. After following various clues, he finds the high-rise complex and begins watching it. Finally, he spots a beautiful blonde girl who exactly fits the description he has of Angela but she is clinging to a young man. Feeling jealous and betrayed, John thoughts become murderous and he plans deadly revenge. A Deadly Deception is a rivetting read, a real page-turner that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

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Page Count

220

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845026578

ISBN 13

9781845026578

The Dark Side of Pleasure

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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The Dark Side of Pleasure

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

This novel tells of Alfred Cameron and his family who all enjoy a life of luxury. But their family firm is in danger from the encroaching railways and Luther Gunnet, who will do anything to raise his family up from the slums.

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Page Count

299

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845028066

ISBN 13

9781845028060

Light & Dark

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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Light & Dark

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

Set in Edinburgh and West Lothian at the end of the Victorian era, Light & Dark is the powerful story of the Blackwood family - Lorianna, a beautiful young woman, married at sixteen to a considerably older man; Gavin, her austere and sanctimonious husband; and Clementina, their wild and wayward daughter who grows up rebelling against everything her parents stand for. In their imposing mansion in the West Lothian countryside, the Blackwoods appear to live an affluent and normal family life. But beneath this veneer of respectability, things are not quite what they seem: Gavin Blackwood is a cruel man, driven by violent animal passions, who makes his wife and daughter's life a misery; Lorianna is secretly involved with another man; and the whole family is about to be engulfed in a dreadful tragedy that will overshadow the rest of their lives.

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Page Count

373

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845028058

ISBN 13

9781845028053

Double Danger

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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Double Danger

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

Margaret Thomson Davis's new novel is a gripping saga with plenty of twists. Double Danger tells the story of Jessica McKay, who moves to Saudi Arabia to be with her new husband, Brian. At first it seems like paradise, but after the birth of their two children, she feels threatened by terrorist attacks on the luxurious compound where they live and decides she must return home with the twins, settling in an estate that Brian has inherited in the Campsie Hills near Glasgow. It is agreed that Brian will only spend his leave from his highly paid job in Saudi with his family until he retires. Patrick, a live-in Irish gardner, is employed to clear the wild overgrown land of the estate. He is charming to Jessica but soon the children find out what he is really like. And the danger begins. Patrick's charming manner conceals sinister schemes and when a terrible accident befalls their father on his way home to see the family the children fear the worst. Double Danger is vintage Margaret Thomson Davis - a story of suspense, betrayal and murder.

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Page Count

174

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845026489

ISBN 13

9781845026486

In a Strange Land

By: M. Thomson Davis

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In a Strange Land

By: M. Thomson Davis

When a Pakistani family moves to a middle-class area in Glasgow, the residents' lives are turned upside down. Alice, whose son Russell has an increasing interest in the Ali household, is about to become an angry and embarrassed mother.

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Page Count

368

Publisher

Severn House Pub Limited

Published Date

ISBN 10

0727870998

ISBN 13

9780727870995

Red Alert

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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Red Alert

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

Red Alert is the story of the Price family and is set in a Glasgow fire station and in the world-famous Glasgow School of Art. Kirsty Price is a nice, ordinary girl and works in the fire station serving food and drink to the firefighters. She's happy in her work and her life except for the fact that she's also the daughter of Simon Price, an artist and tutor at the Glasgow School of Art. He is a notorious bully, both to his students and his family, including Kirsty and her brother Johnny who is plagued with ill-health. When Johnny starts hanging around with a dubious couple who work as croupiers in the local casino he accepts a job from them looking after their flat and Kirsty and her firefighter boyfriend, Greg McFarlane, start to worry about him. Then Greg phones to say that he has been attending a fatal road traffic accident and the car involved is Johnny's. The family is devastated but soon after Johnny's funeral, there's a knock at the door and Kirsty staggers back in shock when she sees who's standing in the shadows outside. But it's just the start of a chain of events that will tear the Price family apart. Red Alert is the compelling story of a Glasgow family which, to the outside world, looks like any other normal family but is riven with tensions and problems which escalate into a nightmare for Kirsty, Greg and her family.

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Page Count

219

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845026462

ISBN 13

9781845026462

The New Breadmakers

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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The New Breadmakers

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

The New Breadmakers is the long-awaited sequel to Margaret Thomson Davis' bestselling saga The Breadmakers - her classic trilogy chronicling the life and times of a Glasgow working-class community during the 1930s and '40s. Having survived everything that the Depression and the Second World War has thrown at them, the people of McNair's bakery and the surrounding tenements are now facing an uncertain future. With the Coronation of 1953, a new age is beginning, and all is by no means well in the lives of the breadmakers. Catriona McNair's husband is making her life a misery and she decides to take drastic action; her friends Julie and Sammy have become involved in a search for a long-lost daughter; Alec Jackson, the happy-go-lucky reformed philanderer, finds himself caught up in one of Glasgow's worst tragedies; and the youngsters are challenging convention in the name of romance. The New Breadmakers is the wonderfully evocative story of these and a host of other colourful Glasgow characters, as they live through the extraordinary changes of the 1950s and '60s.

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Page Count

248

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845026551

ISBN 13

9781845026554

Burning Ambition

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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Burning Ambition

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

The author captures the intrigue and danger of the royal court during the time of Mary, Queen of Scots, through the eyes of a young woman, Marie Hepburn. Marie''s mo ther schemes and the outcome of her plans is murder and Mary ''s exile in France.

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Page Count

267

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845028082

ISBN 13

9781845028084

Light and Dark

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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Light and Dark

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

Set in Victorian Edinburgh, the powerful story of a family engulfed in a dreadful tragedy that will overshadow the rest of their lives.

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Page Count

475

Publisher

B & W Pub

Published Date

ISBN 10

187363143X

ISBN 13

9781873631430

The Clydesiders

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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The Clydesiders

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

In the summer of 1914, as the storm clouds of war begin to gather over Europe, life in Glasgow goes on as normal - for the rich in their elegant mansions, and for the poor in the overcrowded tenements of the Gorbals. Up at Hilltop House, home of the wealthy Cartwright family, Virginia Watson is a kitchen maid whose life below stairs is an endless round of hardship and drudgery. Back in the Gorbals, her family are fighting a losing battle against unemployment, hunger and disease, while her father and brothers dream of the revolution that John Maclean and the 'Red Clydesiders' promise will be their salvation. Everything changes for Virginia after a chance meeting with Nicholas Cartwright, a dashing young army officer and heir to the Cartwright fortune. Defying all the conventions of the time, their illicit romance has hardly begun when war breaks out, and Nicholas leaves to face the horrors of the Western Front. A powerful tale of love and loss, The Clydesiders is a brilliant portrayal of Glasgow during the First World War and the revolutionary turmoil of Red Clydeside.

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Page Count

262

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845028023

ISBN 13

9781845028022

The Gourlay Girls

By: Caitlin McBride,Hugh McAllister,Margaret Thomson Davis

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The Gourlay Girls

By: Caitlin McBride,Hugh McAllister,Margaret Thomson Davis

In Glasgow at the beginning of the 1930s, the lives of two very different families are about to be changed forever by a tragedy that seems to defy explanation. In their splendid home in the West End, everything seems perfect in the comfortable, privileged lives of bestselling novelist Nicholas Cartwright, his beautiful wife Virginia and their two children. Until one dreadful day, when their world is touched by tragedy and they find themselves struggling to come to terms with a mystery that will haunt them for years to come. Meanwhile, in the run-down tenements of Springburn, the Gourlay family are battling to make ends meet. The Depression has hit Glasgow hard, Erchie Gourlay is unemployed, and only the long hours his daughters spend sewing and dressmaking keeps the spectre of poverty at bay. The future looks bleak for the Gourlays, until the arrival of a destitute young girl on their doorstep brings them new hope for a better life. An enthralling tale of two families, The Gourlay Girls captures the unique atmosphere of Glasgow in the 1930s - from the spectacular Empire Exhibition to the coming of the Second World War.

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Page Count

244

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

184502804X

ISBN 13

9781845028046

Write From the Heart

The extraordinary real life story of Glasgow's favourite novelist

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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Write From the Heart

The extraordinary real life story of Glasgow's favourite novelist

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

Write from the Heart is the inspirational story of how, against all odds, Margaret Thomson Davis became a successful writer. From an early age, Margaret's father would tell her and her younger brother frightening bedtime stories like Maria Marten and the Murder in the Red Barn and Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber. And, when her brother then had nightmares, young Margaret would make up a 'nice' story to calm him down and get him off to sleep. At school, her natural storytelling instincts came to the fore and she would make sure that there was always a cliffhanger to the story she was telling just as the bell rang for class. And she also found it was a skill that kept the school bullies at bay. But it was a long way from telling playground stories to becoming a successful writer. Write from the Heart recounts Margaret's personal struggles through an unhappy childhood, the premature death of her younger brother and her difficult relationship with her mother. Often, her mother would leave her father with no warning and move out of the family home, taking her son with her but leaving Margaret at home alone. But these difficult childhood experiences, coupled with an unhappy marriage of her own, gave Margaret Thomson Davis the building blocks for her career as a writer and, after the success of The Breadmakers in 1972, she has never looked back. Write from the Heart is a personal story where the truth is often stranger than fiction and where Margaret Thomson Davis's love of Glasgow and its people shines through. A moving and hugely entertaining autobiography.

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Page Count

295

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

184502642X

ISBN 13

9781845026424

The Tobacco Lords Trilogy

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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The Tobacco Lords Trilogy

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

Beginning in Glasgow during the Jacobite Rising of 1745, The Tobacco Lords Trilogy is the epic story of two very different women - Annabelle Ramsay, the wilful and impetuous daughter of a rich Tobacco Lord, and Regina Chisholm, a child of the slums, born to a life of poverty and degradation yet determined to make something of herself. As the story unfolds, their lives and loves become tragically intertwined, and the two women become deadly enemies - rivals in an all-consuming passion that will last a lifetime and follow them from the streets of Glasgow to the shores of the New World and the splendour of colonial Williamsburg. A compelling story of romance and rivalry, The Tobacco Lords Trilogy is also a marvellous evocation of the city of Glasgow and its people in the 18th century - from the wealth and grandeur of the Tobacco Lords, the city's thriving merchants, to the poverty and desperation of the filthy, overcrowded tenements.

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Page Count

916

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845028074

ISBN 13

9781845028077

Wounds of War

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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Wounds of War

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

The war changed Joe Thornton so violently that Jenny is now afraid of her husband. Widowed by it, vain, silly, Hazel is adrift in the world, with her props alcohol and her strong-minded daughter , Rowan. Amelia's private war with her mother-in-law is still going on. At the same time, their children have their own battles to fight. With the help of charismatic Rebecca, the three women find their painful way through friendship and new loves to their own kind of peace.

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Page Count

432

Publisher

Arrow

Published Date

ISBN 10

0099579677

ISBN 13

9780099579670

A Tangled Web

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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A Tangled Web

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

Rachel and Andy are horrified that their mother has a 25 year old boyfriend. When a young girl from the neighbourhood is murdered, Rachel, inspired by the locals' obsession with the mysterious killer, hits upon a brilliant but flawed plan.

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Page Count

300

Publisher

Random House (UK)

Published Date

ISBN 10

0712680454

ISBN 13

9780712680455

The Glasgow Belle

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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The Glasgow Belle

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

Isla Anderson is "rescued" by an elderly, wealthy earl. However, her fortunes are again reversed when his son returns home to claim his inheritance. Isla is particularly intriguing when she strikes out on her own. The novel is rich with a Scottish setting and characters--gentry and plain folk. Central to the story is the Glasgow Belle, a public house that is frequented by everyone.

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Page Count

302

Published Date

ISBN 10

0750526890

ISBN 13

9780750526890

Clydesiders at War

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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Clydesiders at War

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

In the summer of 1939, the Gourlay family in their modest Glasgow tenement and the Cartwrights in their luxurious West End home face the horror of another war. Richard Cartwright becomes a fighter pilot; the Gourlay twins' husbands fight in France and Virginia Cartwright becomes a Red Cross Nurse on the Home Front in Glasgow. They also face the consequences of a shattering revelation as the secrets and lies that have dominated all their lives are uncovered, and the mystery that has bound the two families together is finally solved.

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Page Count

393

Publisher

Ulverscroft Large Print Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

075052524X

ISBN 13

9780750525244

The Kellys of Kelvingrove

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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The Kellys of Kelvingrove

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

With a handsome police officer for a husband and a brand new house in a quiet, secluded street bordering Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Mae Kelly appears to have it all. But appearances can be deceptive, and Mae soon finds the demands of living at 1 Waterside Way are more than she bargained for. Glasgow in the 1970s is also proving to be a challenging place to live for some of her neighbours. All Paul Brownlee and Clive Westley want to do is live together in peace but the spiteful Reverend Denby is determined to make sure that won't happen in Waterside Way. Meantime, Charlotte Arlington-Jones and her friend Gemma Ford are bitterly opposed to having an Asian family on the street but when her own daughter falls in love with an Asian boy, prejudices on both sides will test everyone to the limit as families are torn apart. And down the road, Doris McIvor is struggling to care for her ailing mother and fears she may end up losing her own mind. As secrets are exposed and beliefs are challenged, each household on Waterside Way must face up to its problems and find new ways to survive.

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Page Count

177

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845026535

ISBN 13

9781845026530

The Gourlay Girls

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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The Gourlay Girls

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

Opening in 1931, this novel is the sequel to THE CLYDESIDERS, and once again is set in Glasgow, where Virginia and her husband Nicholas Cartwright live with their children Richard and Wincy.

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Page Count

235

Published Date

ISBN 10

1903265088

ISBN 13

9781903265086

Goodmans of Glassford Street

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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Goodmans of Glassford Street

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

Goodmans of Glassford Street is the story of a successful but old-fashioned family department store and the lives and conflicts of the people who work in it, including the strong-willed matriarch Abigail Goodman. Douglas Benson, Abigail's son-in-law, is determined to gain control of the store and completely modernise it. He becomes more and more ruthless and devious in his methods to oust Abigail but Abigail is determined to hold on to the business and keep it as it is. She and her late husband, Tom, had built the business up together. All her memories of her much-loved husband are tied up with the store. As the struggle for control of the store escalates, Abigail's son John presents the family with another crisis. A serial killer is stalking the closes and wynds of Edinburgh and it looks like John may be a suspect. It's a bitter blow to the Goodman family at an already uncertain time. Goodmans of Glassford Street is a powerful story of a family torn apart by personal conflict and the struggle for control of the business and of one woman's determination to protect both her family and her life's work.

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Page Count

231

Publisher

Black & White Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845026446

ISBN 13

9781845026448

A Darkening of the Heart

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

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A Darkening of the Heart

By: Margaret Thomson Davis

In 18th-century Scotland, Alexander, a doctor and poet, and his snobbish sister Susanna are desperate to advance their social standing. And while Susanna unwittingly gets herself involved in some truly terrifying situations as a result, Alexander concentrates on his ambition to be a famous poet. And he is surprised and delighted when he meets Robert Burns who is not only a great companion but also a poet like himself. They soon become close friends and Alexander loves him like a brother. But when the genius of Burns begins to completely overshadow Alexander's own poetry, their close friendship changes and there is a darkening of Alexander's heart. As well as a fast-paced and compelling narrative, Margaret Thomson Davis has seamlessly interwoven original songs, poems and letters by the bard into the story to produce a gripping tale of love, rivalry and ambition.

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