I am delighted that Luath are about to publish my book, Scottish Bastards, and that there will be a launch event at 6:30 pm on Wednesday 5 November in Far From The Madding Crowd bookshop on Linlithgow High Street.
I have been long fascinated by the ever-changing perceptions of illegitimacy in Scotland, from harsh condemnation, leading to intense shame and embarrassment, to the contemporary situation in which the majority of Scottish births are now to unmarried parents.
The book explores illegitimacy historically, analysing the statistics and considering examples among the aristocracy, as well as the life and multiple-offspring of Robert Burns. It then continues by examining well-known illegitimate politicians, including Keir Hardie and Ramsay Macdonald, and literary figures including George Douglas Brown and Jessie Keson. There are also a series of case-studies of working-class women from across Scotland.
It should be on bookshop shelves by the end of October. 
