To outline what the book is about:

The characters in the book are both Scottish and English, two families thrown together in the search for work and a better life.   It is set in the 1920's and 30's up to the outbreak of war.  The people are drawn from life, from family stories, many of which are all too real, and part of those unsettling times.  The book teems with human interest and drama and visits different locations in Scotland which will be familiar to many.  The book is richly atmospheric and at times emotionally charged, but humour is never far away.

The book is also true to the events that form its background and which are an important part of recent history, especially in Scotland - with Glasgow as the principal venue.   They are events that have affected our time.

The protagonists in this novel are "middle-of-the-road" ordinary people
of the time - not part of the grinding poverty depicted in some period novels or the glamour of the upper crust in others.   But that is the present novel's strength in that it tells of people to whom vast numbers can relate, as being not unlike themselves or their parents and grand-parents.  The story of the life of those times, the tensions and deceptions, the infidelities but also the fun - these should resonate - and they have their equivalence today - but the mores of the time make an interesting contrast with today.

The New York part of the story is a natural progression in the context if this novel as so many Scots emigrated to make a new start.   Susan seeks a job in New York as a nanny but is confronted by a somewhat hedonistic lifestyle.

For a strictly brought-up girl from Scotland to meet with the glamour and temptations of New York is gripping stuff.   And where else would a Scot (Susan's boyfriend from Scotland), who had made his living as a miner, seek a job as a singing waiter?   The turn of events for the millionaire employer of Susan resulting from the stock-market crash in New York is important and poignant - though the author eschewed its over-dramatisation.  There is an outcome, true to life (Susan was the author's aunt) which will appeal to
many.

Some information about the author and additional information about the
book can be found on Margaret's website:

www.margaretdunlop.com

The flyer (attached ) also gives further information.   It should be
possible to order the book (ISBN 978-1-906050-19-1) through any good bookshop, from
amazon.co.uk  or direct from the publishers.

I very much hope that you are willing to publicise this very special Scottish novel and I will be glad to provide further information if required.

Sincerely,
Gerald  Wiener  (on behalf of Margaret Dunlop)

Further information: 

The Book
Margaret M Dunlop s novel begins in 1921 and ends in June 1940 as Churchill s We shall never surrender speech is broadcast. The stories of the Denny and Dryden families, one Scots the other English, are played out in Glasgow and other parts of Scotland against the backdrop of these eventful years. The marriage of Edward Denny and Honor Dryden is not an easy one. Honor struggles with limited resources and the worries of motherhood. When tragedy strikes she is devastated and her relationship with Edward deteriorates with serious consequences as he seeks solace in an affair. Susan Denny, Edward s sister, leaves Glasgow to take up a post as a nanny in New York and her life there provides a parallel story so that the action switches between Scotland and New York. In America she finds a dramatically different, fast and hedonistic lifestyle where temptations, far removed from her strict upbringing, are hard to resist. In a story drawn on fact, Margaret M Dunlop skilfully contrasts differences in social status and aspirations between the two families arising from their, at times, tempestuous relationship, but also with its lighter side. The novel evokes place and atmosphere and brings to life historic events and mores of the time with sensitivity and humour.

About the Author
Margaret M. Dunlop was born in Glasgow to a Scottish father and an English mother. She is the fourth child of the five surviving children of this union. After leaving school in Glasgow she started work to contribute to the household income, but later she attended Hamilton College and Jordanhill College in Glasgow to obtain a Diploma in Education. This led her to become head teacher of a rural school in Lanarkshire. She also has an honours degree in English Literature and Philosophy from the Open University and, on impulse, became a member of Mensa. As a child she loved to write short plays and songs to be performed by her cousins, brothers and sisters in front of the family. Her school compositions were often read before classmates as an example of how to write a good story. But despite the lifelong desire for writing it is only in recent years that she has found time for novel-writing. Marching in Scotland, Dancing in New York is the first of these. As part of growing up, she became familiar with all the celebrations, the triumphs experienced and tragedies endured by her extended family. The story was built on these memories, on the tales and gossips involving often larger-than-life characters and on the historical events of the time. She absorbed the goings-on played out between two large disparate families, one with Scottish ways and the other, the incoming English, with manners so different. The author lives with her husband in Biggar in Scotland. She has two daughters and seven grandchildren.

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