Stirling, 1877. Lillias Gilfillan, a recently orphaned girl of sixteen, falls in love and elopes with a man who sees her as wealthy and naïve: ''a little boat without its oars''. In a sea of rising debt and deception, Lillias must learn quickly, or drown.Glasgow, 1894. Clementina knows little mercy living in a home for ''wayward girls''. With the ''Jingling Devil'' always lurking in the shadows and a child growing inside her, can she outrun him and save her best friend in the process?Glasgow, 1919. Mabel is one of the first policewomen in Glasgow, on a mission to find a murderer. In doing so, she finds a web of corruption and now the ''Jingling Devil'' wants her dead.''The Unpicking'' spans three generations of ''hysterical women'' who take on systemic corruption and injustice, despite all odds.