Product Description

AN APPLE FROM EDEN - The Seatons, affluent members of the Protestant gentry, own The Haven, a lush opulent estate in the Scottish countryside. The Flynns, proud Catholics to the core, spend their working days in the factories and laundry houses of industrial Glasgow. Divided by class, wealth and religion, the two families could not live more different lives. However, as the Great War fades from memory the Seatons and The Flynns' lives are about to become tragically entangled. THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN - When she was sixteen, Shelia Beattie knew exactly what her future would be. She would marry her sweetheart Eric, a fisherman like her father, and they would raise their family and dream their simple dreams in the village in which they'd been born. But she was sixteen - and about to discover that in this world there is northing certain but change..no-one and nothing to be trusted but the voice of your own heart...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #916909 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 800 pages

Review
For AN APPLE FROM EDEN: 'From start to finish readers will be in the safe hands of an experienced writer of romantic fiction. The characters are beautifully portrayed with a real understanding of their lives' - HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW 'A real weepy. Great stuff' - Sarah Broadhurst, THE BOOKSELLER

Sarah Broadhurst, The Bookseller
`A real weepy. Great stuff'

About the Author
Emma Blair was born in Glasgow and now lives in Devon. She is the author of eighteen bestselling novels, including SCARLET RIBBONS and HALF HIDDEN with which she was shortlisted for Romantic Novelist of the Year Award for each.

Customer Reviews

A brilliant book
I picked this book up with no knowledge whatsoever of the author, thinking that I am always willing to read anything. I am now a fan. This book is an entirely gripping and enthralling read. First, 'An Apple from Eden'-there were parts of this book in the beginning that made me unsure of whether I really wanted to read on, however I'm glad that I did. This book is one of the kind that when you have finished reading it, you want to read it all over again. Filled with surprises and twists this is a must read. Secondly, 'This Side of Heaven'-Personally this is my favourite of the two. All of the above applies and more. I found it addictive right from the start and couldn't put it down. This is a great chronicle of life and is one of those books you will never forget reading for the first time-definitely the best!

Bittersweet sequel to "Flower of Scotland"
"An Apple From Eden", the bittersweet sequel to "Flower of Scotland", follows the lives of two extremely different Scottish families, the working class Irish-Catholic Flynns of Glasgow and the Seatons who reside on their inherited estate near Perth. While the Flynns struggle to eke out a living in the grimy slums, the Seatons and their friend, Andrew Drummond, head of a whisky distillery, lead a life of comparative ease. The families become connected when Bridie, the pretty and intelligent daughter of the Flynns, is employed as a domestic servant on the Seaton estate. The destructive forces of religious intolerance and class disticnction so prevalent in 1920's Scotland bring the story to a sobering and sad climax.

heartwarming story of glasgow between World Wars 1 & 2
"When Dreams Come True" begins on a sad note when Brian McKenzie, the head gardener on a Scottish west coast estate, finds himself unemployed. After finding a job as gardener at Glasgow Green, he must move his wife and 3 daughters to a tenement in the Bridgeton section of Glasgow. But from day one of their arrival, the McKenzies find warmth and friendship among the residents of their Bridgeton close. The story centers on Norma, the oldest daughter, as she and neighbor, Midge Henderson, develop their ballroom dancing talents to the point of becoming the sweethearts of the Glasgow dance hall scene. Heartbroken when Midge deserts her, indefatigable Norma trains as a radio specialist with the allied forces during World War II. On an overseas mission, NOrma falls in love with a fellow Scot. But, on their return to Glasgow, the class distinction so prevalent in those years threatens to split them apart. The analysis of characters and the value systems of the tenement areas of Glasgow make this book one you will be loathe to see end. All Glaswegians will be proud to know that out of the grime of Bridgeton a colourful panorama has been painted by Emma Blair.