Echoes on a Fractal Line - Lee-Anne McAulay

The compelling and heartbreaking historical mystery debut from Lee-Anne McAulay.
Moving between the present and 1715 the stories of four women are woven together by circumstance. Set in the sweeping landscape of central Scotland against the backdrop of the ‘15 Jacobite uprising. Jeannie Kellie and Mairead Erskine are caught in a desperate battle to survive.

In the present Hazel Rankin and Dr Lauren McDonald begin a project at Alloa Tower connecting people to the lives of those in the past. When a body is discovered, the women soon discover that shadows from their own pasts have resurfaced with it.

United by a desire to save historic sites from mothballs or developers Hazel and Lauren search for the stories of ordinary people in extraordinary times. It soon becomes clear that not everybody wants them to succeed. The discovery of the body brings the project to a standstill and their funding is threatened. Determined to make their project a success they follow the threads of the mystery and what they discover holds deep echoes of their own lives.

In 1715 Mairead Erskine arrives at the tower as her husband is given command of the Erskine family seat of power. Feeling the pressure to prove her worth Mairead clashes with healer and midwife Jeannie Kellie. When their Laird turns his coat and leads an uprising to overthrow King George the women find themselves in path of the coming war. Thrown together they work to keep the inhabitants of the tower safe and well, risking everything for those in their care. When the tower falls they soon realise that neither a family name nor skill as a healer will keep them safe from the redcoat soldiers.