Books by Catherine Czerkawska

The story of a murder and its aftermath. On Christmas Night in 1881, John Manley, a poor son of Irish immigrants living in the slums of Leeds, was fatally stabbed in a drunken quarrel. The frightened murderer went on the run, knowing that capture could see him hang.A few generations later, author Catherine Czerkawska begins to tease out the truth behind her great-great-uncle's tragic death. But she uncovers far more than she bargained for.In a personal family story that takes us from Ireland to the industrial heartlands of England and Scotland, from the nineteenth century to the twentieth, Catherine gives voice to people often maligned by society and silenced by history - immigrants, women, the working classes. She unearths a tale of injustice and poverty, hope and resilience, and she is both angered and touched by what she finds. Catherine is driven to keep digging, to get to the very heart of life - and death - in the not-so-distant past.

When antiques seller Daisy Graham inherits an ancient house on the Hebridean island of Garve, she plans only to sell up, daunted as she is by its isolation and its crumbling structure. But the house, its beautiful grounds and the island itself quickly prove themselves too charming - their secrets too fascinating - for Daisy to resist.

A novel sure to appeal to fans of Outlander. A modern love story in the Scottish islands runs parallel with the darker 18th-century tale of Henrietta Dalrymple, kidnapped by the formidable Manus McNeill and held against her will.

Moving, poetic and quietly provocative' - The Independent. City life in the early nineteenth century was never short of drama: poverty and pollution preyed on all but the lucky few, and 'resurrection men' prowled the streets to procure corpses for anatomists to experiment on. Life is improving, however, for young William Lang, who begins courting Jenny, a fine needlewoman, and forms an unlikely friendship with botanist Dr Thomas Brown while working in the physic garden for a leading professor of surgery. At first, William relishes the opportunity to extend his knowledge of plants and their healing properties while foraging in the countryside in the service of his new friend. The young couple's relationship blossoms, until seeds of trouble threaten to grow out of control.

A history of the island of Gigha