The Cromarty Library Circle

Cromarty, 1831. A new circulating library brings together people who would not otherwise meet as equals: Charlotte Mackenzie, isolated in an unhappy marriage; Rachel Mackay, the minister’s wife; John Learmonth, a schoolmaster carrying secrets from Edinburgh; and Ludovic Cameron, a bank clerk dreaming of emigration.

Their private choices unfold while the Black Isle community faces political reform, the approach of cholera, overseas migration and the campaign against slavery in the British Caribbean. A wounded officer’s arrival disturbs existing relationships, and the circle’s exchange of books becomes part of a wider story about reputation, dependence and the forces transforming a small port town.