10 h 29 minAudiobook11 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when first love meets the demands of faith in the hills of Galloway?
Winsome Charteris wears the lilac sunbonnet that gives this Scottish romance its name. Around her stretch the farms, moors and kirk roads of Galloway. In The Lilac Sunbonnet, S. R. Crockett places a young woman's first romance beside the demands of a life shaped by faith.
Here, the kirk belongs to everyday life, and courtship unfolds within a close country community. Crockett brings warmth, humour and an ear for Scots speech to this world. The countryside is almost a character itself, giving the story its sense of home while love and religious duty pull at the heart.
What you’ll discover
- Winsome at the centre Meet a young country woman whose first romance sits at the heart of the story.
- The paths of Galloway Wander through farms, moors and small towns drawn with a deep love of the land.
- Love beside faith Explore a courtship where religious life matters as much as the stirrings of the heart.
- Warmth in small communities Find humour, sentiment and homely detail in Crockett's close attention to Scottish country life.
- The sound of Scots Enjoy the local speech that helps give this gentle romance its distinctive sense of place.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy warm, funny love stories, village characters with sharp tongues, Scottish hills and lochs, and tales where faith, family and first love pull a young heart in different directions.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A student hides from a whistling girl
- Lost books lead to a dandelion
- An old household takes him in
- Poems, letters and a rival maid
- Trout, tears and a cloud over Winsome
- A night of mistaken meetings
- The minister's secret and a broken tie
- The long road and the quarrel in Edinburgh
- What the story is about
- How the story is told
Who’s who
- Ralph PedenA shy, brilliant divinity student from Edinburgh who wants to be a poet and finds himself in love for the first time.
- Winsome CharterisThe golden-haired young mistress of Craig Ronald farm, practical, funny and quick, who wants to care for her grandparents and for the man she loves.
- Meg KissockWinsome's loud, loyal and strong maid, who guards her mistress and quietly steers her toward Ralph.
- Jess KissockMeg's dark, clever sister, who has been a lady's maid in England and plots to win Ralph for herself.
- Allan WelshThe stern, frail minister of the Marrow kirk at Dullarg, who watches over Ralph while carrying a long sorrow.
- Saunders MowdiewortThe gravedigger and minister's man, a simple widower who wants a wife and fails at every love speech.
- Jock GordonA wandering, half-witted fool who is wiser than he looks and wants only to guard Winsome.
- Agnew GreatorixThe proud captain from the castle who rides to Craig Ronald and wants Winsome for himself.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 10 h 29 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 11 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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La capota lila
by S. R. Crockett · 1894
A shy Edinburgh divinity student loses his heart to Winsome Charteris, a farm mistress in a lilac sunbonnet.
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In short
The Lilac Sunbonnet is a Scottish romance by S. R. Crockett, set in the hill country of Galloway in the early nineteenth century. It tells how a young divinity student from Edinburgh, bred on Hebrew and strict church doctrine, falls in love with a farm mistress who whistles with two fingers and wears a lilac sunbonnet.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A student hides from a whistling girl
Ralph Peden arrives in Galloway on foot, carrying a knapsack of Hebrew and Greek books. On the road he meets Jess Kissock, a dark-haired girl who has been a lady's maid in England. She carries part of his bag, and he feels no gladness at being walked home by so handsome a stranger.
He is staying at the manse of Dullarg with the minister Allan Welsh. Ralph's father, Gilbert Peden, leads the small Marrow kirk in Edinburgh. He has written a letter that ends in a cry. Does the lad have a heart at all?
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What is The Lilac Sunbonnet about?
It tells of Ralph Peden, a young divinity student from Edinburgh, who falls in love with Winsome Charteris, a farm mistress in Galloway, and must face a family secret and the rules of his strict church.
What does the lilac sunbonnet mean in the book?
Ralph first admires Winsome's grace as she carries the water pails, and then he notices her sunbonnet. It becomes a token of their love, passed through scenes of tearing, kissing and waving.
Who is Jock Gordon?
Jock Gordon is a wandering, half-witted man whom the parish allows to roam freely. He is sharp-tongued, funny and fiercely loyal to Winsome, and he helps Ralph on his long walk to Edinburgh.
The author
S. R. Crockett
1859–1914 · Scottish novelist
Samuel Rutherford Crockett (1859–1914) was a Scottish novelist born in Galloway, Scotland. He lived in Scotland and worked as a minister in Penicuik before becoming a full-time writer. His novels include The Lilac Sunbonnet, published in 1894, and The Dew of Their Youth, published in 1910.
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