Linda's Books
STAR GAZING - An award-winning novel
Blind since birth, widowed in her twenties, now lonely in her forties, Marianne Fraser lives in Edinburgh in elegant, angry anonymity with her sister, Louisa. Marianne's passionate nature finds solace and expression in music, a love she finds she shares with Keir, a man she encounters on her doorstep one winter's night.
Keir makes no concession to her condition. He is abrupt to the point of rudeness, yet oddly kind. But can Marianne trust her feelings for this reclusive stranger who wants to take a blind woman to his island home on Skye, to 'show' her the stars?
In 2009 STAR GAZING was short-listed for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award, presented by the Romantic Novelists' Association and was also short-listed for the Robin Jenkins Literary Award . Sponsored by Forestry Commission Scotland, this award promotes writing inspired by Scotland's landscape.
In 2010 STAR GAZING topped Woman's Weekly's reader poll for Favourite Romantic Novel 1960-2010. Katie Fforde presented Linda with a trophy at a champagne breakfast organised by the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Praise for STAR GAZING...
"This was a joy to read from the first page to the last... Romantic and quirky and beautifully written."
www.LoveReading.co.uk
"Touching and perceptive."
Emma Lee-Potter writing in the Daily Express
"A thoughtful yet romantic read... A good book for a group as there would be much to discuss."
New Books magazine
"This wonderful novel is by turns passionate, funny and truly moving - a compulsive page-turner to the very end."
Candis magazine
"Linda Gillard is an original and versatile author. Always challenging, I never know what to expect from her novels - except a gripping investigation of the twists of human life and love. All this, and heroes to die for."
Gillian Philip, author of the REBEL ANGELS series (Strident)
UNTYING THE KNOT - A romantic drama
Love among the ruins. Two people who were meant to be together. Then war shattered body and mind.
"Everyone makes mistakes, but I sometimes think I've made more than most. Marrying Magnus was one of them. But the biggest mistake I ever made was divorcing him."
A wife is meant to stand by her man. Especially an army wife. But Fay didn't. She walked away - from Magnus, her traumatised war hero husband and from the home he was restoring: Tullibardine Tower, a ruinous 16thC castle on a Perthshire hillside.
Now their daughter Emily is marrying someone she shouldn't. And so is Magnus...
UNTYING THE KNOT is one of four of Linda's novels to be awarded a Medallion by the Book Readers Appreciation Group (BRAG). A panel of readers selects the best indie books which are then honoured with a BRAG Medallion. THE MEMORY TREE, CAULDSTANE and HOUSE OF SILENCE have also received the BRAG Medallion.
HOUSE OF SILENCE - A Kindle bestseller
"My friends describe me as frighteningly sensible, not at all the sort of woman who would fall for an actor. And his home. And his family."
Orphaned by drink, drugs and rock n' roll, Gwen Rowland is invited to spend Christmas at her boyfriend Alfie's family home, Creake Hall - a ramshackle Tudor manor in Norfolk. She's excited about the prospect of a proper holiday with a proper family, but soon after she arrives, Gwen senses something isn't quite right. Alfie acts strangely toward his family and is reluctant to talk about the past. His mother, a celebrated children's author, keeps to her room, living in a twilight world, unable to distinguish between past and present, fact and fiction.
And then there's the enigma of an old family photograph...
When Gwen discovers fragments of forgotten family letters sewn into an old patchwork quilt, she starts to piece together the jigsaw of the past and realises there's more to the family history than she's been told. It seems there are things people don't want her to know. And one of those people is Alfie...
Praise for HOUSE OF SILENCE...
"A story layered deep in pretence and secrecy, HOUSE OF SILENCE provides readers with the puzzle-solving pleasure of golden age detective fiction, complete with letter fragments from the past and the gothic backdrop of Creake Hall. The writing is sharp and crisp, with an edge of dark humour. Unwinding through the narrative like a chain is the hold that the dead have upon the living. I loved it."
Rosy Thornton (THE TAPESTY OF LOVE)
"If you like dysfunctional Christmases, snowy gardens, peculiar mothers, gothic houses, mystery photos, a bit of quilting, attractive Polish gardeners who play the cello, or any combination of the above, get downloading!"
From a review at Harriet Devine's Blog
"HOUSE OF SILENCE is one of those books you'll put everything else on hold for."
From a review at Cornflower Books
"Gillard's consistently smart writing and fully-fleshed characters are the only recommendation I need to read anything she writes."
From a review at Bookharbinger book blog.
REVIEW COPIES
If you review fiction and would like a copy of one of Linda's books, please contact her at info@lindagillard.co.uk
And finally, to avoid confusion...
Please note that THE BROKEN BOY, a memoir published in the US, is nothing to do with Linda Gillard, the UK author of contemporary fiction. Unfortunately three authors share the same name. The other writes teaching text books.