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Based in Ballater on Royal Deeside between June 1914 and December 1915, the novel recounts the great love between an exceptional young woman and Gavin Fraser, a Gordon Highlander. They share an idyllic holiday in Upper Deeside and the Cairngorms. Her detailed comments about the area and life shed light on herself and inspire lyrical exchanges with him about their relationship.
There is a regular alternation between an account of his service on the Western Front and news from her in Ballater. For example, she and her father visit some of his comrades in the burgh’s Red Cross Hospital. She informs him about wider matters, including cultural issues. Thus their relationship continues to develop. The novel expands for his leave in Aberdeen and her following holiday, taken at his suggestion, with her friend Ishbel in the Cairngorms, approaching from Aviemore. The major uncertainty is what will happen to him and his close comrades in the war. There is some humour and enough masculine content to attract both male and female readers.
James Roy Pickard has written an MLitt thesis on The Relationship between Childhood and Adulthood in the Novels of Charles Dickens and A History of King’s College Library, Aberdeen, until 1860. A retired librarian at Aberdeen University, he has spent many years researching the background to this novel and exploring Upper Deeside and the Cairngorms. He has often camped near the mountains to absorb the atmosphere better. Cover Photograph: Lochnagar from Craigendarroch
