Set in Edinburgh and Dundee, Fields of Blue Flax is the parallel story of, in the past, dark Victorian secrets uncovered and, in the present, how an innocent interest in genealogy brings a family to the brink of destruction. This is a remarkable and compelling debut novel by Sue Lawrence, renowned food writer, journalist and broadcaster, and first ever winner of BBC TV's Masterchef. Cousins Mags and Christine are complete opposites, one conventional the other bohemian. As family life with husbands and children intertwine, their joint research into the family history uncovers a forgotten relative, Elizabeth Barrie, born in the late nineteenth century in the north east village of Tannadice. Elizabeth's origins aren't what they appear to be, hiding a shocking scandal at the very heart of a prominent, 'respectable' family. Unprepared for what they will find about their relative, the truth at the heart of Elizabeth's story mirrors the cousins' own equally dysfunctional family lives. Both Mags and Christine find out in different ways that uncovering a family's past can have unexpected and revocable consequences for those living in the present.

Author Biography

Sue Lawrence is a food writer and journalist who has written many books on cooking and baking, including A Cook's Tour of Scotland (2006), Eating In (2011) and Scottish Baking (2014). Born in Dundee, she was brought up and educated in Edinburgh, later working as a journalist with D. C. Thomson. She was winner of BBC's Masterchef in 1991. President of the Guild of Food Writers from 2004 to 2008, she has received many awards, including a Glenfiddich Award in 2003. She lives in Edinburgh.