'The Road From Ardcranna' is an epic story set in nineteenth century Edinburgh, and the American prairies. It follows the surviving members of two families who are brutally evicted from their homes in the Scottish Highlands. Mary McQueen, fourteen, stays behind to avenge her mother who is murdered during the eviction by the new landowner, Thomas Coulll. Despite becoming a wife, mother, and successful business woman, Mary never loses her desire for vengeance.
The people of Ardcranna are put aboard a 'coffin ship' and transported to the Americas. Mary's father and grandfather perish during the Atlantic crossing, as do the parents of Samuel McQueen, fifteen, and his sister Katherine, thirteen. Mary's brother John, fifteen, survives and he and the McAllan children are taken under the wing of gold prospector, Daniel Flynn.
It would seem that no gold is ever found, but John and Katherine find love, are married, and John fulfils his ambition to become a preacher. Samuel too, gets married. His bride is Rose, a member of the Nez Perce Indian tribe. In 1877 the Nez Perce are declared 'hostile' and are pursued by the US army, as they try to reach the Canadian border. By dint of circumstances, John , Mary, Samuel, and Flynn find themselves with the Nez Perce on part of that historic journey.
John and Katherine settle in Duluth, Minnesota, while Flynn and Mary Return to Scotland. Tragedy eventually befalls Mary , but good fortune smiles on Flynn and he returns to the Americas to be reunited with John and Katherine.
'The Road From Ardcranna' began life as a three part drama for BBC Scotland Television, but a change of personnel there meant it never got produced, and so the author presents it here in book form.
