Give a gift that will last a lifetime this Mother’s Day with a thoughtfully chosen book. We have plenty to choose from, whether you are buying for a nature lover, a classic fiction fiend, a romance fanatic, or a keen gardener. Check out some of our suggestions below!
The Perfect Passion Company is a romantic and charming novel set in Edinburgh, and the first in a brand new series by Alexander McCall Smith. It tells the story of Katie, who takes over the running of a traditional matchmaking bureau which aims to find love for the lonely hearts of the city. For fans of Alexander McCall Smith’s many beloved series and romantic standalone novels, The Perfect Passion Company shows him at his most perceptive, playful, and generous.
The 44 Scotland Street Cookbook by Anna Marshall takes inspiration from the iconic 44 Scotland Street novels by Alexander McCall Smith and reimagines the dishes mentioned within their pages. Anna, who has worked with Alexander for 10 years, has scoured the books to find the very best of the delicious food consumed by the Scotland Street neighbours, and the offerings range from cheese scones to mushroom risotto, and of course includes Bertie’s much-loved Panforte di Siena.
Planting with Nature is a beautifully illustrated guide to sustainable gardening for green thumbs of any ability. This is a practical, easy-to-use guide for anyone who wants to boost nature in their patch and make the world a little greener. The author Kirsty Wilson was the Garden Manager for the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, and Hazel France is a horticulturalist and botanical illustrator who provided the glorious drawings in this book.
The Hidden Fires is a wonderful read for fans of Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain, as well as nature lovers more generally. Author Merryn Glover explores the same landscapes and themes as Shepherd’s seminal work, from her own rather different background and experiences. This is a journey separated by time but unified by space and purpose, a conversation between two women across nearly a century that explores how entering the life of a mountain can illuminate our own.
Blood Salt Spring is the remarkable debut poetry collection from Edinburgh Makar Hannah Lavery. With powerful meditations on motherhood, race, belonging, and more, this is the perfect gift for a poetry lover. Organised into three sections this book takes the reader on a journey from the old inherited wounds, the trauma of tearing open again these chasms within recent discourses and events, to a hopeful spring, where pain and trauma can be laid down and a new future can be imagined.
Rizzio is a punchy, sizzling retelling of the murder of David Rizzio, private secretary to Mary Queen of Scots, by bestselling author Denise Mina. This was the first in our Darkland Tales series of novels offering new perspectives on key moments of Scottish myth and history. Denise Mina brilliantly portrays the sexual dynamics and politics of power – between men and women, monarch and subjects, master and servants, and this is a fabulous read for the historical fiction lovers.
The Bachelors is one of Muriel Spark’s celebrated novels, all of which we republished in beautiful centenary editions a few years ago. Spiritualist and extortionist Patrick Seton is coming up for trial. He’s been accused of forgery, and suddenly West London’s bachelors are all in a tizzy in this biting comedy of English manners. If you fancy gifting some classic fiction, you can’t go wrong with Spark.
The Perfect Passion Company is a romantic and charming novel set in Edinburgh, and the first in a brand new series by Alexander McCall Smith. It tells the story of Katie, who takes over the running of a traditional matchmaking bureau which aims to find love for the lonely hearts of the city. For fans of Alexander McCall Smith’s many beloved series and romantic standalone novels, The Perfect Passion Company shows him at his most perceptive, playful, and generous.
The 44 Scotland Street Cookbook by Anna Marshall takes inspiration from the iconic 44 Scotland Street novels by Alexander McCall Smith and reimagines the dishes mentioned within their pages. Anna, who has worked with Alexander for 10 years, has scoured the books to find the very best of the delicious food consumed by the Scotland Street neighbours, and the offerings range from cheese scones to mushroom risotto, and of course includes Bertie’s much-loved Panforte di Siena.
Planting with Nature is a beautifully illustrated guide to sustainable gardening for green thumbs of any ability. This is a practical, easy-to-use guide for anyone who wants to boost nature in their patch and make the world a little greener. The author Kirsty Wilson was the Garden Manager for the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, and Hazel France is a horticulturalist and botanical illustrator who provided the glorious drawings in this book.
The Hidden Fires is a wonderful read for fans of Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain, as well as nature lovers more generally. Author Merryn Glover explores the same landscapes and themes as Shepherd’s seminal work, from her own rather different background and experiences. This is a journey separated by time but unified by space and purpose, a conversation between two women across nearly a century that explores how entering the life of a mountain can illuminate our own.
Blood Salt Spring is the remarkable debut poetry collection from Edinburgh Makar Hannah Lavery. With powerful meditations on motherhood, race, belonging, and more, this is the perfect gift for a poetry lover. Organised into three sections this book takes the reader on a journey from the old inherited wounds, the trauma of tearing open again these chasms within recent discourses and events, to a hopeful spring, where pain and trauma can be laid down and a new future can be imagined.
Rizzio is a punchy, sizzling retelling of the murder of David Rizzio, private secretary to Mary Queen of Scots, by bestselling author Denise Mina. This was the first in our Darkland Tales series of novels offering new perspectives on key moments of Scottish myth and history. Denise Mina brilliantly portrays the sexual dynamics and politics of power – between men and women, monarch and subjects, master and servants, and this is a fabulous read for the historical fiction lovers.
The Bachelors is one of Muriel Spark’s celebrated novels, all of which we republished in beautiful centenary editions a few years ago. Spiritualist and extortionist Patrick Seton is coming up for trial. He’s been accused of forgery, and suddenly West London’s bachelors are all in a tizzy in this biting comedy of English manners. If you fancy gifting some classic fiction, you can’t go wrong with Spark.