Ropes of Sand

The Scottish Isles and the turmoil of India in rebellion collide, testing the bonds of love for a family wracked by grief and guilt. Murdo Nicholson, brought up in the strict confines of the Free Church of Scotland in the Western Isles and destined to be a minister, runs away to embark on a career at sea with the East India Company. This life opens new worlds and opportunities, but tragedy turns him back, with his wife and young daughter, to the Islands and religion of his childhood, and the suffering brought on by the Highland Potato Famine of 1846. His daughter, Lexy, finds her own journey through life mirroring that of her father's as she travels from the islands of Scotland, through London, and into India. Wealth and comfort are not what she expected, but everything is stripped away with the violent outbreak of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Can Lexy draw solace from a growing awareness of the parallel paths her family's lives have run?