25 Library Terrace
Every house tells a story. Every woman has a story to tell.
25 Library Terrace is a home in Edinburgh where lives are changed.
In the census year of 1911, Ursula Black takes stock of the social changes happening around her and is determined to transform her world for the better. When the household is supportive of Ursula’s ideas, if a little surprised, she seizes an opportunity to embrace women’s suffrage, vegetarianism and the complicated challenge of building a new family.
Twenty years later, during the Great Depression and after the 1931 census is completed at 25 Library Terrace, a radical suggestion takes root and the house gains a new purpose. Ursula’s ideals are revived, and a startling secret that has been lying dormant is discovered.
In 2011, a century after Ursula Black first moved in, it’s Tess Dutton’s turn to push open the green front door and discover the legacy of this unusual Edinburgh villa that offers a fresh perspective, and fosters truth, trust and fairness.
This is a deeply satisfying novel about strong and determined women who grasp their own destiny and help others to grasp theirs. At its centre is the house, and a reminder that however our lives change over the years, the things that really matter – love, kindness, stories, good recipes – stay the same.
Natalie Fergie published her first novel, The Sewing Machine, in 2017. She is a textile enthusiast, and has spent the last ten years running a one-woman dyeing business, sending parcels of unique yarn and thread all over the world. Before this she had a career in nursing and now lives near Edinburgh.