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1950s: A house on a loch becomes a prison
The House by the Loch
What you need to know before your trail
Scotland, 1950s – Walter MacMillan is bewitched by the clever, glamorous Jean Thompson and can’t believe his luck when she agrees to marry him. Neither can she, for Walter represents a steady and loving man who can perhaps quiet the demons inside her. Yet their home on remote Loch Doon soon becomes a prison for Jean and neither a young family, nor Walter’s care, can seem to save her.
Many years later, Walter is with his adult children and adored grandchildren on the shores of Loch Doon where the family has been holidaying for two generations. But the shadows of the past stretch over them and will turn all their lives upside down on one fateful weekend.
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
Travel BookTrail style to Kirsty Wark’s Ayrshire
This book reads like an ode to Scotland so it’s no surprise that TV presenter Kirsy Wark is the author. She is well known for her love of the country, its story and heritage. In The House by the Loch, she takes a real location and blends it into a compelling fictional narrative.
Loch Doon
Loch Doon Castle sits on the banks of this lovely loch in Ayrshire and it could well be the inspiration for the house in the novel. Crumbling old and full of history and of course secrets. The loch is nestled in gorgeous countryside and is around 18 miles west of Ayr itself.
Ayr in the 1950s
The city is very different now to how it appears in the novel of course, but the author has done fantastic work of getting in the nuances, dress sense, way of life and dating life of the time. The couple here go to old fashioned cinemas and dances. There’s a walk beside the Robert Burns statue in the town and Jean later gets a job in Carnegie library. It’s the Ayr Pavillion which shines however – where the dances are held and where the couple meet.
Readers should head to the Scottish Aviation museum in Dumfries where the remains of the spitfire in the novel are now held.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The House by the Loch
Destination: Ayr Author/guide: Kirsty Wark Departure Time: 1950s
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