Fledgling Press

The Case Room by Kate Hunter

Shortlisted for the Saltire First Book Award 2017. Kate Hunter is a debut author with a compelling new novel that examines a little explored period in Scottish history: Edinburgh’s print industry in the late-nineteenth century – a volatile time of significant change.

Start by Graham Morgan

Graham Morgan has an MBE for services to mental health, and helped to write the Scottish Mental Health (2003) Care and Treatment Act. This is the Act under which he is now detained. Graham’s story addresses key issues around mental illness, a topic which is very much in the public sphere at the moment. However, it addresses mental illness from a perspective that is not heard frequently: that of those whose illness is so severe that they are subject to the Mental Health Act.

Arguing with the Dead by Alex Nye

The year is 1839, and Mary Shelley – the woman who wrote Frankenstein – is living alone in a tiny cottage on the banks of the river Thames in Putney. As she sorts through the snowstorm of her husband’s scattered papers she is reminded of their past: her 15 month stay in Dundee aged 15 with the merchant William Baxter and his daughter, Isabella, whom she corresponded with for the rest of her life; the half-ruined villas in Italy, the stormy relationship with Shelley and her stepsister Claire, the loss of her children, the attempted kidnapping of Claire’s daughter Allegra from a prison-like convent in Florence. And finally, her husband’s drowning on the Gulf of Spezia as they stayed in a grim-looking fortress overlooking the sea.

Happiness is Wasted on Me by Kirkland Ciccone

Taking place in the 90s, Happiness Is Wasted On Me is a genre-blending tale that spans a decade in the life of Walter. It’s a coming of age tale, a family drama, a mystery, and a biting dark comedy. Ultimately, it’s the story of how even the strangest people can find their way in the world.

When We Get to the Island by Alex Nye

Hani is 12 and invisible, and yet everyone wants to capture him. After escaping from Syria with his sister, he finds himself working in atrocious conditions somewhere in Scotland. When his sister disappears, he begins a perilous journey to find her, across some of the wildest terrain in Scotland.

The Sins of Allie Lawrence by Philip Caveney

After a blazing row with her mother, sixteen-year-old Allie Lawrence impulsively runs away from the family home in Killiecrankie, with no plan other than to go to Edinburgh to ‘be an actor.’ Then a chauffeur-driven car pulls up beside her and she’s offered a lift by its handsome and mysterious passenger, Nick. Against her better judgement, she accepts – and soon discovers that he is a ‘manager,’ who claims he can make all her dreams come true. She just needs to sign a contract…

Whirligig by Andrew Greig

Whirligig is a tartan noir like no other; an exposé of the corruption pervading a small Highland community and the damage this inflicts on society’s most vulnerable. What happens when those placed in positions of trust look the other way; when those charged with our protection are inadequate to the challenge; when the only justice is that served by those who have been sinned against?

Ghost by Helen Grant

Augusta McAndrew lives on a remote Scottish estate with her grandmother, Rose. For her own safety, she hides from outsiders, as she has done her entire life. Visitors are few and far between – everyone knows that Langlands House is haunted. One day Rose goes out and never returns, leaving Augusta utterly alone.

Then Tom McAllister arrives – good-looking and fascinating, but dangerous. What he has to tell her could tear her whole world apart. As Tom and Augusta become ever closer, they must face the question: is love enough to overcome the ghosts of the past? In the end, Langlands House and its inhabitants hold more secrets than they did in the beginning…