A dazzling historical novel set in nineteenth-century Scotland.

1831, Cromarty, a declining Scottish port town built on fishing, hemp and the plantations of the Caribbean.

A group of leading townspeople are brought together by a newly founded circulating library. From the fragile young wife of the laird to the town's minister whose marriage is plagued by malicious rumours, and the schoolmaster with a dark secret to hide, they are united by their love of books, despite their differences.

Against the background of mass emigrations, an encroaching cholera epidemic, political unrest and the campaign to abolish chattel slavery in the British Caribbean, the people of Cromarty must negotiate their changing world and each other, over the course of this tumultuous year.

Praise for Shona MacLean

'MacLean can make any period sing with life' Antonia Hodgson

'An excellent work of historical fiction' Literary Review

'A wonderful storyteller' The Times

'Well-researched and fascinating' Guardian