Blushing is for Sinners

Paisley mill girl, Jean McParland, has always had big ideas. Stifled by her small-town existence and increasingly frustrated by her humdrum job, she longs for a better future for herself and her daughter, Ava. So when old flame Billy re-enters her life, she’s easily seduced by his dreams of escape – an association which will have disastrous results. Fifty years later, and Ava is now a high-flying executive in Vancouver. But the death of her aunt, who brought her up, triggers a chain of events which leaves her searching for answers – and, ultimately, leads her back to the town of her birth...


An immersive and enticing debut exploring the history of the Paisley Mills with a delicate touch. This book is full of longing, of interlocked psychologies and real life.
Saltire First Book of the Year Award Judges 2019


This is a very accomplished, page turning debut, switching confidently between the corporate environment surrounding Ava in present-day Canada and the parochial, conformist Paisley her mother knew, keeping readers in eager suspense over where their separate stories will go.
The Herald