As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate disclosure.

Home / Books / The Cromarty Library Circle

The Cromarty Library Circle cover

Book

The Cromarty Library Circle

by S. G. MacLean

First published 2026

Amazon

4.0(175)

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.

Historical Periods

Abolition Movement in Britain1787–1833 CE Circulating Libraries and Women Readers1740–1830 CE Late Georgian Reform Era1815–1832 CE

Genres

Historical Sagas Social & Domestic Fiction

More from this period

5 more top-rated novels about Abolition Movement in Britain

Ranked by rating and voting volume; books already shown on this page are omitted.

Who Buries the Dead cover

Who Buries the Dead

by C. S. Harris

First published 2015 · Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery · 4.4(10,105)

Read more

Troubled Waters cover

Troubled Waters

by Dewey Lambdin

First published 2008 · Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures · 4.3(2,346)

Read more

Man of War cover

Man of War

by Alexander Kent

First published 2003 · Richard Bolitho · 4.3(1,177)

Read more

Flash for Freedom! cover

Flash for Freedom!

by George MacDonald Fraser

First published 1971 · The Flashman Papers · 4.3(6,645)

Read more

Black Heart of Jamaica cover

Black Heart of Jamaica

by Julia Golding

First published 2008 · Cat Royal · 4.3(1,098)

Read more

Best novels about Abolition Movement in Britain

More from this period

5 more top-rated novels about Late Georgian Reform Era

Ranked by rating and voting volume; books already shown on this page are omitted.

When the Wolves Are Silent cover

When the Wolves Are Silent

by C. S. Harris

First published 2026 · Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery · 4.6(3,653)

Read more

Fugitive from the Grave cover

Fugitive from the Grave

by Edward Marston

The Bow Street Rivals · 4.5(289)

Read more

Bella Poldark cover

Bella Poldark

by Winston Graham

First published 2002 · Poldark · 4.5(5,909)

Read more

Who Will Remember cover

Who Will Remember

by C. S. Harris

First published 2025 · Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery · 4.4(5,379)

Read more

The Reckoning cover

The Reckoning

by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Morland Dynasty · 4.4(338)

Read more

Best novels about Late Georgian Reform Era

Discover more

Authors similar to S. G. MacLean

Recommended from shared genres and periods.

C. S. Harris 22 books

Seventeenth-century historical mystery and political intrigue in Abolition Movement in Britain and Late Georgian Reform Era

Philippa Gregory 32 books

Seventeenth-century historical mystery and political intrigue in the Restoration and Stuart Period

Neal Stephenson 11 books

Historical mystery, espionage and political intrigue in Stuart Period

Richard Woodman 37 books

Seventeenth-century historical mystery and political intrigue in the Restoration and Stuart Period

Geoffrey Trease 44 books

Seventeenth-century historical mystery and political intrigue in the Restoration and Stuart Period