The Cold Blast - Mary Easson

It is 1918 and the people of Blackrigg are weary of war.

Badly wounded infantryman John Birse is recovering abroad in a hospital run by the International Committee of the Red Cross. As his memory returns, he recalls the industrial dispute of 1914 and its impact on his friends and family as they battled the Scottish coalmasters for improvements in wage rates. Meanwhile, school friend and farm servant Minn Graham awaits news from the Front. Elizabeth Fraser keeps house for her brother at the manse and yearns for the day when she will no longer be at his beck and call. Thinking back to the summer before the outbreak of war when she longed for the return of her true love Neil, Elizabeth recalls the day her life changed forever. And how, with the help of her friends - Rose, Phee and the women of the Stoneyrigg Rows - her independent spirit flourished at the dawning of a new age for the community.

Includes some dialogue in easily understandable Scots.