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 The overall effect is of being at your auntie's, of listening to an enthusiastic storyteller, of the fascination of taking a microscope to seemingly ordinary lives, seemingly mundane situations, and bringing them into dramatic focus' Â- Scotland on Sunday  Henderson writes from a position of uncompromising humanity. A strong, atmospheric writer with gifts of insight, she has a sharp and tarry black humour, so while she attacks the objects of her wrath, she leavens the battle with a running current of dark and infectious wit' Â- Sunday Herald Kathy Kelly, born in the heart of Glasgow's East End, comes from a family torn apart by conflict. She grows up with a sharp wit and a quick temper, constantly challenging those who cross her: her reproving grandmother, Con, her hard-drinking father, even the local priest Â- Kathy takes no prisoners. But at least she copes, unlike her older brother Peter, who disappears as fast as he can. Kathy also escapes Â- to the Highlands. Here she finds work and a home with the Macdonalds, an eccentric, easy-going couple. But Con's death drags Kathy back to Glasgow, where she is forced to look at things afresh, at past events and the people she knew so well Â- and begin the search for her missing brother, a search which will result in an extraordinary, devastating discovery.