Janet Sandison comes home to the small fishing village of Achcraggan in Scotland. Behind her are ten  years of happiness with her husband Twice, whose death has brought to an end their life on the island of St Jago in the West Indies. Before her lies a new career as a novelist and a return to the countryside of her childhood-and above all to George and Tom who were her closest friends, mentors and allies, in those early days. But now, Reachfar, the family croft on the hill overlooking Poyntdale Bay, has been sold and George and Tom in their old age are living cheerfully if haphazardly in Jemima Cottage in the village.   Janet, George and Tom quickly take up their lives together after nearly forty years apart; Janet buys and converts an old barn on the shore and the three of them set up house. Janet, who has not found it easy to face the loss of her beloved Twice nor to adjust to the strange new world of the professional writer, rediscovers with delight that the old Reachfar values still hold a firm grip on her family and neighbours, but the one thing she cannot face is the ruin of the Reachfar croft itself. Not even the urging of her young nephews and niece- the Hungry Generation-will persuade her to climb the hill. This psychological problem is only a small part of the dramas and happenings, some sad, some joyous, which fill the pages of this enchanting and wonderfully enjoyable book.  Readers of any or all of Jane Duncan's 'Friends' novels will rejoice particularly in My Friends George and Tom, for the wise and funny characters of the title have played important supporting parts in many of the earlier books and finally have a book which is triumphantly their own.

My Friends George and Tom

Jane Duncan

St.Martin's Press

'It seems to me,' my father said quietly, 'that one always tries to leave a place better than one found it . . .'  From the time when she was small enough to be held high above his head Duncan Sandison was the most important person in Janet's life . . .  This remarkable novel, the story of a remarkable man who has appeared in many previous Friends, begins with Janet as a young child at Reachfar.  As she grows up her admiration for Duncan deepens into a bond of true affection that sustains her through many trials and adventures.  After her marriage to Twice Alexander it is her father's letters that bring the scent of the heather to the Caribbean, carrying with them all the comfort of his love . . .

My Friend My Father

Literature & Fiction

Pan Books

The book tells of the author's childhood at Reachfar, a croft in Ross-shire, the story of a vanished world.  Janet, the narrator, was brought up on this highland farm by her stern old grandmother; her delicate, charming and beloved mother; George, her uncle; and Tom, the hired hand who was nevertheless one of the family.  Into this peaceful backwater come the Miss Boyds - silly, frivolous, giggling old maids, bred by a highland father, but essentially 'townies', who have come to settle into the neighbourhood.  At first they are a laughing stock.  It is only when tragedy overtakes them that the compassion and great-hearted kindness of the Reachfar family, and their neighbours, is aroused.

My Friends the Miss Boyds

Macmillan

My Friend Muriel

My Friend Monica

'She was very small with fragile birdlike bones, and although she had slept in the white shirt and shorts she still looked fresh and airy, as if she had just flown in from the open sky . . . '  When Janet Sandison returns to her Caribbean home from a holiday in Scotland she finds her husband Twice Alexander wonderfully restored to his old self, full of hope for the future and no longer haunted by the illness which had shadowed their lives for several years. Sir Ian has made him Manager of the Paradise sugar mills, with gawky young Mackie as his assistant; but Janet senses that almost the main contribution to his recovery is the arrival on the island of a girl who is keeping house for a team of young social workers, whom the island has nicknamed the 'Teeth and Feet people'.   For Twice this is the daughter he has never had, but for Janet the relationship is more complicated. The girl has flown into Janet's house and Twice's heart but seems somehow always ready to take wing again, like the swallows of Janet's beloved childhood home, Reachfar.  This is a wise story of ends and beginnings, for the lives of not only Janet and her husband but of all their friends in St Jago and in Scotland are moving on, changing and developing in a way which holds sadness and fortitude, gaiety and love, all woven together with that mixture of humour, hard sense and understanding which make Jane Duncan's novels such engrossing reading.

My friend the swallow

Camerons on the Hills (Knight Books)

Children's Books

Hodder&Stoughton Ltd

My Friend Sashie

Corgi Childrens

After her husband's death and her own breakdown, from which she has been rescued by her good friend Sashie, Janet Sandison sets sail from her West Indian home to return to Scotland and make a new life for herself as an author. She is beset by doubts, but as the days pass aboard R.M.S. Mnemosyne the personalities and dramas of her fellow passengers claim her attention more and more, not least of all the puckish child Helga, and the three elephantine sisters, the Misses Kindness, whose mission in life is to make everyone as much like themselves as possible.   Behind their backs they are soon nicknamed 'The Friendly Ones' for, like the Furies of Greek mythology, they must be placated as well as, if possible, avoided. There are other Furies aboard too, for each passenger has his or her private interior demon; but in the young Second Engineer Janet finds an unexpected and rewarding friend, and as the ship draws near to England the threads of all their lives dramatically come together for a while.  The deep vein of truth that underlies all Jane Duncan's books is here at its most impressive and, together with her sharp observation of human nature and her story-telling skill, make this one of her most compelling novels.

My Friends the Misses Kindness

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jane Duncan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Jane Duncan

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jane Duncan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

My Friends George and Tom

My Friend My Father

My Friends the Miss Boyds

My Friend Muriel

My Friend Monica

My friend the swallow

My Friends George and Tom

Camerons on the Hills (Knight Books)

My Friend Sashie

My Friends the Misses Kindness