Good Vibrations: a Story of a Single 60s Mum

Margaret Halliday's second book, Good Vibrations: a Story of a Single 60s Mum, tells the poignant tale of her harrowing and often hilarious experience of unmarried motherhood in pre-Abortion Act Scotland. Seventeen-year-old Margaret's Glaswegian romance results in unplanned pregnancy and heartbreak but she battles on overcoming all obstacles.
Disowned by her parents, her sister, who lives near Inverness, supports her through her confinement. She is forced to look after her baby for ten days in hospital, developing a strong maternal bond, before he is fostered. As a result his adoption is cancelled and mother and son are reunited just before Christmas, 1967. Margaret's determination to be independent leads her to accept two housekeeping positions in Edinburgh, both of which result in homelessness. She stays for a brief period in an unmarried mothers' home in Glasgow, after a disastrous attempt to become reconciled with her son's father, followed by a short stay in a place for destitute women in Edinburgh.
She recovers from these setbacks, rents a flat in Edinburgh, gets a job, starts day release at college and finds another single mum to share with. Later she buys an apartment and lets out rooms to two other unwed mothers. When her son Sean is three years old she meets her future husband at college.
At the age of forty-two Sean traces his real father with surprising results.