Rosabelle Shaw

By: D. E. Stevenson

Narrated by: Eilidh Beaton

Edinburgh, 1890.

The Season is in full swing with parties nearly every night and Fanny is enjoying every moment. Then John Shaw comes to town on business and loses his heart to her.

He sets about his wooing without delay and eventually brings his young bride to his farmhouse near the sea. Fanny is unhappy at first. John is hard to understand, and she misses the excitement and glamour of city life and the companionship of her sister.

But she struggles hard to become a good farmer's wife and, with the help of a strange old book, learns to manage. Rosabelle, their first child, is delightful and soon has a sibling to share her games.

Then an unexpected accident occurs, which brings a stranger into the family circle; a strangely fascinating boy whose ways threaten trouble for everyone in the district.

©1967 D.E. Stevenson (P)2025 Soundings

Family Saga

This early novel by D. E. Stevenson covers over 20 years in the life of the Shaw family. In some ways it might be considered the story of Fanny, as it starts with her courtship and marriage to John Shaw. Their first child, the Rosabelle of the title, is named after a Great Aunt, and much of the book then follows this daughter, although other family members including John, a foster child called Jay, a young brother to Rosabelle named Bill and various neighbors also enter into the tale. An interesting look at life on a farm in the boarders area of Scotland in the years leading up to WWI. To go into plot details would provide too many spoilers. Eilidh Beaton does a very good job of the narration, distinguishing between different characters and getting the right mood.