Mary MacDonald has led a sheltered life, but Shona, her strong and practical mother, knows she will shine at whatever she does.
Shortly after the death of her father, Mary leaves her Highland croft home, and Shona, for life as a student in Glasgow. It’s not an easy transition for the innocent Mary.
It’s the 1960s, and for a girl used to the quiet life, the city is swinging, and Mary finds herself involved with people she barely knew existed. Her lodgings are dire – her short stay there has ramifications that will direct the rest of her life – and the one saving grace is her friendship with neglected, streetwise, 14 year old Alice. In her fellow student, the kind and charismatic David, Mary thinks she has found a knight-in-shining-armour, but Mary soon learns that life is just not that simple…
Sylvia Anderson evokes a very real sense of the sixties, and of Mary’s coming-of-age. The cast of characters with whom Mary finds herself, are surprising; definitely not the people you (or she) start out thinking they will be, and Mary is tested many times. She herself is a complex character: vulnerable, naive, and at times, I wanted to shake her!
Anderson also gives us some snapshots of Shona, alone in the croft, which is a bonus; with this strong and caring woman behind her, Mary will come through – won’t she?
This is a debut novel from Sylvia Anderson, a Scottish author who knows her setting well and creates characters who are very real – insghtful, flawed, struggling, caring – and she doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities of life. It’s a novel that starts quietly, and the writing never becomes dramatic, which is why what happens will probably surprise you, and stay with you for a long time.
Where She Will Shine is available as an eBook. Â https://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-Will-Shine-Sylvia-Anderson-ebook/dp/B06Y98WTQ4