Molly Clavering – författare

"Don''t, please, write and tell me that we''re mad. I know it already; and even if I didn''t, every friend we possess has pointed it out. My spirit is quailing at the prospect of life at Easter Hartrigg, because I know what pitiful figures we shall cut as landowners in a country quite strange to us."

Young Susan Parsons has just moved, with her unmarried brother Oliver, to a newly-inherited property in the Scottish Highlands. Their neighbours prove a mixed bag, including the towering, kindly Jed Armstrong, a farmer whose land ''marches with'' theirs, the local vicar and his family, and the three gossipy Pringle sisters, who travel by donkey-drawn cart and get their knives into one and all. After a bumpy start, with a disagreeable cook and her nincompoop daughter as their only help, Susan and Oliver begin to settle in nicely, and find themselves in the midst of romance, confusion, and earthy hilarity.

Molly Clavering was for many years the neighbour and friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson, and they may well have influenced one another''s writing. First published in 1936 (under the pseudonym B. Mollett) and out of print for more than 80 years, Susan Settles Down is one of her most cheerful and vivid romantic comedies. This new edition features an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.

"Love romps home and sets the whole place by the ears, gets her own way in everything, and father and mother don''t even notice they''re being crossed!"

Jane Cranstoun is having a lovely time with friends in England (and has just been proposed to by the charming John Marsh) when she is summoned home to Scotland to welcome her young sister Love, newly returned from being ''finished'' in Paris. Keeping her engagement a secret, and drawn back into an ''endless round of good works and dull county functions'', Jane promptly gets off on the wrong foot with Peregrine Gilbert, a local politician and naturalist, and soon falls prey to Love''s inveterate (and incompetent) matchmaking. Supported by a lively and vividly-portrayed cast of family and friends, Jane must steer carefully to avoid the pitfalls of misunderstandings, gossip, and misguided romance.

Molly Clavering was for many years the neighbour and friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson, and they may well have influenced one another''s writing. First published in 1938 (under the pseudonym B. Mollett) and out of print for more than 80 years, Love Comes Home is one of her funniest and happiest tales.

Miss Flora Milligan, tripping westwards through the royal burgh of Haystoun with a bowl of her famous potted head, decently shrouded from vulgar gaze by a snowy napkin, in a neat basket, was the first person of any social standing to notice that the ''To Sell or Let'' board had been taken down from the Soonhope entrance.

The town of Haystoun is in a tizzy because Andrew and Lucy Lockhart and their children are boldly returning, several years after Andrew''s scandalous liaison with another woman. Most residents are firmly in Lucy''s corner, but as Lucy''s plans to host a family gathering in celebration of their return exacerbates existing tensions, Andrew''s cousin Kate Heron-drafted to help smooth the way-begins to wonder . . . The resulting difficulties draw in Kate''s brother Greystiel, elderly Jean Anstruther, who keeps the town under careful surveillance, Jean''s nephew Robin, the Lockharts'' formidable Aunt Charlotte, and an unforgettable array of supporting characters as the tale reaches its satisfying climax.

Molly Clavering was for many years the neighbour and friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson, and they may well have influenced one another''s writing. First published in 1938 (under the pseudonym B. Mollett) and out of print for more than 80 years, Yoked with a Lamb is a witty and entertaining account of family conflict and reconciliation in a charming Scottish setting. This new edition features an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.

"Old age really must be creeping upon me at last," said Susan Armstrong. "I find more and more that what I most enjoy is a quiet evening at home by the fire, with a book..."

Susan Armstrong is savouring a quiet evening at home with husband Jed, but her peace is fleeting. A call from Jed''s irritating cousin results in a visit from young Amanda, whose ace pilot husband is missing (and none too sorely missed). There are complications with their neighbours, the embittered Larry Heriot and his spiteful sister Ruth, and with the formidable trio of Misses Pringle, the gossipy Furies of the village. Susan''s brother Oliver and cheerful wife Peggy come in for difficulties as well. Of course, it all works out in the end, but not before some distressing confusion, grave misunderstandings, and rollicking adventures, permeated with eccentric and lovable characters and vivid Scottish landscapes.

Molly Clavering was for many years the neighbour and friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson, and they may well have influenced one another''s writing. First published in 1939 (under the pseudonym B. Mollett) and out of print for more than 80 years, Touch Not the Nettle reunites us with characters from the earlier Susan Settles Down (though they may be read in any order). This new edition includes an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.

The two were friends and had been for many years before Miss Douglas, a little battered by war experiences, had settled down in Threipford, to Mrs. Lorimer''s quiet content. ... Both wrote; each admired the other''s work. Lucy possessed what Gray knew she herself would never have, a quality which for want of a better name she called "saleability."

In what is surely Molly Clavering''s most autobiographical novel, two middle-aged women writers, close friends and neighbours, offer one another advice and support while navigating life in a lively Border village. Lucy Lorimer, the more successful author, with her four children, in-laws, and grandchildren gathered for a summer reunion, must try to avert disaster in one daughter''s marriage, help a daughter-in-law restless with mundane married life after flying planes in the war, and deal with the awkward reappearance of an old flame. Unmarried Grace (''Gray'') Douglas, meanwhile, has struggles of her own, but is drawn delightfully into her friend''s difficulties.

In real life, Molly Clavering was herself for many years a neighbour and close friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson. First published in 1953, Mrs. Lorimer''s Quiet Summer is not only an irresistible family story, but undoubtedly provides some indication of the inspiring friendship between these two brilliantly talented women. This new edition includes an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.

Sometimes, in a rare moment of leisure, when Mrs. Maitland looked back across the thirty years of her short married life and long widowhood, the nineteen-year-old girl on the other side of that gap seemed a total stranger, incredibly young and untried, incredibly ignorant.

Millie Maitland has settled happily into her busy if slightly impoverished existence in the Scottish village of Mennan, watched over now and then by her solicitor, who once proposed marriage, and her daughter Amabel, grown but still a handful. Millie is much loved by her friends and neighbours, including the gossipy Mrs. Gray, the kind Mrs. Denholm, a shepherd''s wife isolated in the hills, and the appalling Mrs. Noble, a flirt whose husband is overseas. But into this contented, quiet life comes a bit of drama. It all starts innocently enough when Martin Heriot, a bachelor farmer, asks Millie to board a black labrador puppy named Sam . . .

Molly Clavering was for many years the neighbour and friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson (in just such a village as Mennan), and they may well have influenced one another''s writing. First published in 1954, Because of Sam is a charming and compulsively readable comedy of errors. This new edition includes an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.

When the time comes for you to retire, Hugo, if you want a quiet life, don''t settle down in the country. Bury yourself in London or any really large city, and you can live like a hermit, but avoid the outskirts of a village. I am dazed by the ceaseless whirl of activities in which almost everyone in and round Ravenskirk is involved.

Sara Monteith makes an ideal correspondent for Hugo Jamieson, brother of her lost love Ivo, killed in the war before they could marry. Her neighbours in the lovely Border village of Ravenskirk don''t know that Sara has moved here because it''s where Ivo and Hugo grew up, but they welcome her warmly. Soon, she''s drawn into the active village social scene of tea parties, gardening, carol-singing, and Coronation festivities, dodging the judgments of stern Miss Bonaly, defending her helper Madge Marchbanks, an unwed mother, befriending kind, practical Elizabeth Drysdale and charming Mrs. Currie and her daughter Sylvia (the latter first met halfway through Sara''s drawing room window), and having an embarrassing first encounter with rugged Major Whitburn. Add in her nephew Arthur, neglected by an indifferent father, Arthur''s dog Pam, and even Hugo himself returning unexpectedly from overseas, and Sara''s life is a ''ceaseless whirl'' indeed!

Molly Clavering was for many years the neighbour and friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson (in just such a village as Ravenskirk), and they may well have influenced one another''s writing. First published in 1955, Dear Hugo is one of the funniest of her spirited, joyful comedies of Scottish village life. This new edition includes an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.