When the beautiful pearl-fisher, Effie Williamson, arrives in a rural Scottish village, with her grandparents and siblings, the residents react in many different ways, from hospitable warmth to outright rejection, exacerbated when the religious, gentle Gavin Hamilton takes the family into his home, the Old Manse. A difficult love blossoms gradually between Effie and Gavin under the scrutiny of the watchful locals.

Robin Jenkins was born in 1912. He studied at Glasgow University and travelled and worked in Spain, Afghanistan and Borneo. He is the author of over twenty novels, including the acclaimed Fergus Lamont and The Cone Gatherers. In 2003 he was awarded a Saltire Award for Life-time Achievement. He died in 2005.