The Paisley Women

Meg and Duncan Montgomery move to the flourishing Scottish town of Paisley to find work in the thriving weaving industry. Soon Meg is expecting their first child, Margaret. To make ends meet, they live in Peter Todd’s household, Duncan’s employer and Meg’s days are filled with domestic duties. But soon Meg and Duncan find themselves caught up in the intricate lives of the Todd family and when a tragic accident causes further conflict, driving a wedge between Peter’s grown sons a decision is made to keep a terrible secret from Meg.

In the midst of a street brawl, Margaret Knox first encounters Islay McInnes, a Highland girl struggling to support herself and her two cousins in the Paisley slums. Their two lives are polar opposites. With the slums rife with illnesses and as the pox begins to spread, Margaret, seeing it as her Christian duty to help, persuades her friend Jamie Todd to allow Islay and her cousins to live above his weaving shop.

Christian Knox dreams of a life beyond that of a Paisley housewife and at thirteen is determined to further her education. Headstrong and enterprising, Christian soon becomes the manager, representing the local weaver women. Years later, she succumbs to a cossetted marriage to an older husband and is forced to give up work and is torn over her attraction to younger Benjamin Selbie.

Orphaned Elizabeth Cunningham is taken on as a companion to the lady of the Montgomery household at the age of fourteen. When the mistress dies, Elizabeth becomes housekeeper. and runs the fine household for domineering Rab Montgomery and his sons Matthew and James, all who work for the family shawl-manufacturing business. Elizabeth is only seventeen on the fateful day when overseas naval surgeon Adam Montgomery, Rab’s eldest son, briefly returns home to his father’s house after the death of his fiancée in India. From that day, Elizabeth’s life is changed forever.