This debut from a renowned Scottish food writer is the story of an innocent interest in family history that uncovers long-buried, dark family secrets

Cousins Mags and Christine are complete opposites, one conventional and the other bohemian. As family life with husbands and children intertwine, their joint research into the family history uncovers a forgotten relative, Elizabeth Barrie, born in the late 19th century in the north east village of Tannadice. Elizabeth’s origins aren’t what they appear to be, and in fact hide a shocking scandal at the very heart of a prominent, "respectable" family. Unprepared for what they will find about their relative, the truth at the heart of Elizabeth’s story mirrors the cousins’ own equally dysfunctional family lives. Both Mags and Christine find out in different ways that uncovering a family’s past can have unexpected and revocable consequences for those living in the present.