Author: Evelyn McIver Keeley    Publisher: Little Red Schoolhouse Publications

For several centuries the Campbells were known for their strong-minded independent women who often stepped in to save their families and to protect their livelihood. They were the unsung heroines whose stories cam to light through careful research. Grace Buchanan Campbell is the central character in this story. Born in Glasgow in 1784, Grace was a published author in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. She moved in the literary circle of Edinburgh's Blackwood group. Grace's life is one of fortitude, loss and kinship; her novels portray echoes of her family history. Caln clashes, religious struggles, politics and patronage set the scene. It is in Argyll, Scotland in the mid-seventeenth century where this story begins; a time when many women and men suffered for their religious beliefs. Argyll's turbulent history was followed by the Darien disaster, resulting in hardship for many Scottish families. During the early eighteenth century, the family, in an effort to survive financially, became plantation owners in Jamaica. Grace's grandfather has a significant role. He grew up in the enlightened world of Glasgow University where his father was the principal. As an influential merchant in London he was closely associated with penal reform in Britain. He was mentor to William Bligh, the husband of his niece, who is remembered for the ill-fated Bounty expedition. It is a story with many characters: ministers, merchants, lairds, explorers, brewers, writers, surgeons, soldiers, naval men, authors and an architect. Rabbie Burns, and Robert Louis Stevenson make brief appearances. Over two-hundred years the lives of these adventurous and entrepreneurial families were intertwined with the politics of significant periods of history. This narrative links Scotland, Jamaica, Georgian England and the valleys and mountains of Wales. The pioneering spirit of Grace's family led to settlement in Canada and New Zealand.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 290

Dimensions: 210 x 265 mm

Publication Date: 01-07-2023

Availability Date: 14-09-2023

Tags: New Release   October 2023   Biography   History