A CANADIAN author has thanked the city of Dundee for providing her with the inspiration behind her latest critically acclaimed novel.

Andrea MacPherson (pictured) from Vancouver is working to secure a UK release date for her book, Beyond the Blue, which is set in Dundee during the first world war.

The book is a fictional story based on the experiences of women working in the jute mills while their husbands were abroad fighting.

The novel was inspired by tales of old Dundee which were handed down to Andrea by her great-grandmother, Annie Blacklaw, who worked in the Dundee mills.

Andrea said, “When I began writing the character of Morag I had my great-grandmother in mind, and a picture of the city based on the stories I had been told by my family.

“However, as the writing went on Morag started to become her own person, which is something that often happens in writing.”

The story opens in the Bowbridge jute mill during the final few months of the war in spring 1918 and Morag has just witnessed the death of one of her colleagues in a mill accident.

The sudden death awakens memories of her mother’s own death in the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879, while Morag was just four, and kicks off a flashback to the days immediately before the war.

The ensuing tale is one of heartache at home, of fighting around the world, of a city robbed of its men and of women struggling to cope alone.

Andrea said, “I still have family in Dundee and I’ve visited many times. The city had such a profound effect on me that even when I left I found that part of it stayed with me.

“The first time I realised that it was something more than just a passing interest was when I started to hear the voice of Morag in my head and I knew she had a story to tell.”

Andrea returned to Dundee on a 10-day fact finding mission to research the city’s past, figure out its geography and get a feel for its unique atmosphere.

Many of the buildings are still standing and will be instantly recognisable to anyone in the city—including the McManus Galleries and the red stone of the Courier building at Meadowside.

“While I was over I visited most of the major landmarks and historical sites, including Verdant Works mills and Dundee City Archives.

“When I returned to Vancouver to write the book I obviously couldn’t just pop round to the archives to check something, so I had to rely on websites, books and Email correspondence with people in Dundee who helped me with research.

“I received a lot of help from a minister in Clepington Road Church who told me a lot about what Dundee was like at the time and, of course, what the church was like as a large part of the book is set there.”

Much of the book is also told through the pages of The Courier. In Beyond the Blue, Andrea describes how the Dundee folk hear about the progress of the war:

“When they open The Courier, it is with held breath…Morag does not need to open it, does not need to see the black smudges of newsprint on her fingers.

“The front page is enough: trench warfare, men slowly dying, lists of the dead…people do not smile in photos anymore. Morag sighs as she opens the paper, ready for more macabre news.”

The book was released in Canada in January to positive reviews. Andrea is now liasing with her agents on both sides of the Atlantic to sort out the book’s release date in the UK.

It is licensed abroad by publishers Random House, which also has a London office, although a UK release and publisher has yet to be agreed.

However, Dundonians keen to read the novel can buy it online through Canadian mail order sites.