Mrs Keiller's Marmalade

Mrs Keiller's Marmalade is a book about marmalade, the complexity of love, the isolation of age and the pain of abandonment.  Maggie Keiller is a fictional descendent of John Keiller, the last patriarch of Keiller marmalade, whose clan famously created the first ‘Dundee Marmalade’.  She is married John's son Billy Keiller in 1909 but lost him in the same year to a storm which visited their small village of Auchobane, perched precociously on the Dundee coastline of North-East Scotland.  Forward fifty years, and Maggie lives a lonely life in Rose Cottage surrounded only by her jars of fine and vintage homemade marmalade.  Her only visitor is Dougie, an elderly grocery man and decorated war veteran.  Maggie’s life is changed when she unexpectedly receives a letter from her estranged niece in London, asking for haven for her teenage daughter.  Maggie takes her on, not out of affection for her niece whom she loathes, but to fill the void left by her childless marriage.  Isla arrives in 1969, a year on the cusp of a revolution and in her own life, hiding the pregnancy she has kept from her mother.  Maggie teaches Isla about her heritage, and the tradition of marmalade making.  For Isla, abandoned by mother and lover, her bond with Maggie becomes a channel to regain the self-esteem taken from her.  The book culminates in Isla’s entry into the silver spoon Marmalade competition, fifty years after Maggie Keiller had taken the same prize.

Five Star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, from readers and industry professionals:

“Such an interesting scenario and I love the way that marmalade is intrinsic to the story” (Judy Moir Agency).   
“Well written and I was left wanting to read on.... It is certainly an intriguing concept” (Troubador)
“Writing is dynamic and fast-paced.  There's a definite charm about the novel that, I think, would appeal to the kind of audience cultivated by writers such as Marina Lewycka” (HHB Agency)
“What a charming novel. I’m from Dundee myself, and the masterful way you wove together setting and culture was admirable. Your characters, too, were powerful yet compassionate, and the prose had a lovely twisting quality” (Canongate Press)
“This is fresh and intriguing” (Andrew Lownie)