CALL HOME THE HEART

Scotland at the turn of the century when how black was my valley--this is not just the little potted petunia the title and the convention might lead you to expect and it treats the place, the period and the reader with a certain respect. Mirrin, who knows her own mind, is just a scullion but she has hopes for herself, and particularly for her younger brother, before the pit explodes. He would like to become a lawyer and she helps him by securing a better position with mine-owner Lament, who has the grievances of a jealous wife and the mine to contend with, while Mirrin has just a foretaste of something better before choosing to lead her life independently of the collier back home who loves her. The times are changing not only upstairs and downstairs but even in milady's chamber--for the better.