After the First World War, two final stragglers return to North East Scotland to pick up their old lives: Mary Cowie, once a 'gutter quine' or fish gutter, who served with the Elsie Inglis Scottish Women's Hospitals field units; and Neil Findlay, once the best fishing boat skipper in Buckie, now a shell-shocked wreck. They hope the old life will cure them, but find they have changed too much to settle down again. The shadow of the war refuses to go away for many of the other village locals as well. But with change comes opportunity, and Mary and Neil will soon find their tribal and personal loyalties tested to the full as Buckie struggles to move on.
Ashley stared in pleasant wonderment at the girl wearing a similar style of dress to that of his sister, with deliciously tantalising blonde hair taken back and put in ringlets, at the blue eyes, the pretty little mouth.
Master Mariner: A Novel