Where the Rivers Meet — Nicola Thorne

The Scottish border town of Branswick is where the rivers meet. Here since the middle of the Nineteenth Century the Dunbar Mill and the family running it have dominated the community. But when the family's heir loses his life in France in 1918, confusion and failure loom for the proud Dunbar family and its celebrated knitwear firm. But though it has lost an heir it gained an heiress: only young Margaret Dunbar proves herself brave in the face of despair, and passionate in the face of coldness and betrayal.

The novel traces her fight to drag the conservative business struggling into the twentieth century from modest beginnings to the seemingly glamorous world of haute couture, mainly through the development and exploitation of the luxurious fabric cashmere, with offices and showrooms throughout Europe.

It is also a panorama of one of the most turbulent periods in European history, 1918 to 1951, covering the recklessness and failed hopes of the twenties, the recession of the thirties, the emergence of Hitler and Fascism and the Second World War in which further members of the Dunbar family are called upon to make great sacrifices.

The central character, however, is Margaret who never forgot she was a Dunbar or that she came from the Scottish border town which nestled in the heather-covered hills. Despite every setback in love, in war, and in peace, this is a story of an incorrigible woman, and her battle against the odds, her pride and courage in the face of adversity, and the strength to survive when all seems lost.