Hills And Hearts Of Gold

The final novel in Stirling's historical Patterson trilogy concludes the engrossing family saga set in 19th century Scotland. Elspeth and Anna Patterson have at last to face the disgrace that has stalked them since childhood. Driven from home by fear and shame, Elspeth and her baby find refuge among coal miners, where she becomes a harness-wife on the deep sea-coast pits of the Forth. Anna, cast off by her lover, Randall Bontine, sets out to ensnare a wealthy new husband. But Anna's ambition may ruin her life, and bring to Elspeth the fulfilment of the destiny that is her birthright...

The Burnsides? move from Glasgow?s tenement slums to the sunny new suburbs of Flannery Park brings hope to all members of the family. But heartbreak awaits among the tidy gardens and green lawns and soon seventeen-year-old Alison is forced to take on responsibility for her out-of-work father and brothers and put her own ambitions aside. Love as well as loss threatens Alison?s future, however, and leads her into a relationship with teacher Jim Abbott, an affair which her brothers, even the brooding Henry, are powerless to understand, let alone prevent. Throughout the Depression years of the early 30s, the Burnsides ? united by a shared heritage yet divided by their dreams ? square up to the challenge of poverty and fight to hold the family together, whatever the cost.

Welcome to Chestnut Hill, a boarding school where every girl's favourite subject is riding. Honey's made close friends at school yet she hasn't told anyone that she has a twin, or that he's really ill. Then when Patience's new pony is injured, no one understands her dedication to a pony that's not even hers. But Honey doesn't know how to share her secret ...

The second novel in Stirling's historical saga brings to light yet more dark secrets, amorous entanglements and murder... Elspeth and Anna Patterson of Balnesmoor have both married well: Elspeth to a wealthy wool merchant, Anna to the son of a respected factor. But they are far from happy. The two married sisters, leading oddly parallel lives, find themselves entangled in a web of infidelity, scandal, and heartache in the midst of Wellington's Peninsular War on the continent. The story continues in Hearts of Gold.