Yesterday's News - Tapa dura

Devastated by the ending of her marriage, Grace has returned to her childhood home of Rowanmore in Scotland, where her father had been Vicar, in an effort to rebuild her life. Young Laurel Appleby, meanwhile, has arrived to take up the job of chef at the nearby Glen View Hotel, working for manager Calum McLeod. It's an exciting challenge, but Laurel's concerns for her parents - farmers in Yorkshire where the foot-and-mouth epidemic is raging - are a constant worry. Within a short time Grace and Laurel have become close friends, and their lives are interwoven in unexpected ways with those of the villagers of Rowanmore.

Margaret Allan was born in Yorkshire and has spent most of her life there. She is the author of some twenty-five novels, all of which have proved popular with libraries. She and her husband have one daughter who is soon to become a minister, and two grandsons. Her novel By Faith Divided - also about the lives of people living in rural communities today, and dealing with very topical issues - was published by Severn House in 2001.