Stevenson's characteristic freshness and charm.The thirty-ninth novel from the beloved author of The Blue Sapphire, Bel Lamington, and Fletcher's Eng -- this new work centers around Katherine Wentworth, married at the age of nineteen to a man with whom she was very much in love. Widowed after only four years of happiness with Gerald, Katherine is left to bring up her stepson, Simon, as well as her own twins, Daisy and Denis.Katherine's struggle to raise her children wisely is one which will move every reader deeply. Told in first person, the story sensitively evokes the personality of Katherine's husband, whose many outstanding qualities are now perpetuated in his children. When Simon, growing to manhood, suddenly becomes heir to the family fortunes, he faces the difficult decision of either moving to the estate of his domineering grandfather or giving up the inheritance to remain free, as his father did before him.While Simon wrestles with his problem, Katherine finds romance entering her life in the person of Alec Maclaren, the brother of an old friend. Thrown together on a vacation in the Scottish Highlands, the two realize in each other's company a new zest for living, and soon Katherine is faced with a future that promises she will no longer be alone.As in her many other works, D.E. Stevenson has again created a realistic world of warm, believable people whose company brings delight to the reader.~~from the dust jacket flaps

    From those inauspicious beginnings, the inexperienced boy-king was to become one of the finest and most popular kings in Scotland's history, leading his people bravely through some of the nation's most dramatic and colourful years. Bold, vigorous, headstong and romantic, he inspired great loyalty from men, and passionate love from women. So great was his people's affection that the bravest and best of Scotland's young men finally laid down their lives for him - at the tragic Field of Flodden. Accomplished lover, able king, complex personality, James IV of Scotland is brought to memorable life in Nigel Tranter's compelling tale of drama, intrigue and treachery.