Annie Melville thinks she finally has everything she wants a loving husband with whom romance and babies is a real possibility a good home and the dangerous Billy Dawson out of her life for good But in an unforgiving age where women alone rely on the family circle to survive the perils of urban life what happens when family drama threatens to tear he world apart Almost as soon as they are married Annies new husband Alex a police sergeant with the Dundee constabulary shows his true colours and Annies dream of romance turns into a nightmare He is jealous of women and men both suspects her of disloyalty and when a letter arrives from a long lost friend in Ireland it tips him over the edge But despite being beset by an abusive husband and having her dreams of romance and babies worn away Annie has other problems to deal with Her sister Mary the last of he family circle is confronting an historical romance of her own in the form of one of Annies previous suitors Joe Cassiday In such an urban life and with the looming threat of the First World War hanging over them their union has resulted in a child that may never see its father And what of Billy Dawson the man whose hasty actions caused all this family drama and misery He still pines for Annie but when a drunken accident one night causes a fire that nearly kills him he decides to put his past behind him and leave the women alone to get on with their lives He takes lodgings in the house of Josephine MacIntyre an attractive widow who soon falls for Billys charms In this masterful sequel to a truly wonderful debut the lives of Annie Melville nee Pepper and those she meets are woven into a complex tapestry that depicts the struggles of women and men in early twentiethcentury Dundee
