Spirit of the Island — Joan Fleming

Scarred physically and emotionally after a car accident, Kirsty Mitchell fears that her two-year-old marriage may be falling apart. Her husband Adam has cancelled their planned holiday cruise to the Caribbean, as he has to work in London. After a blazing row, the couple part on seriously bad terms.

As Kirsty approaches her thirtieth birthday, she is looking ahead to six weeks' holiday from her job as a classroom assistant in a primary school in Glasgow. She is facing a long, lonely summer in her city-centre flat.

Encouraged by her friend Freda, Kirsty decides to spend some time on the Isle of Mull, the Scottish island of which she has happy memories of visiting her late grandmother. She finds accommodation in a small guest house run by the Fergusons, a couple she knew from her younger days. Another friend she first met on the island as a teenager, Amy Wilson, now also lives on Mull, and Kirsty plans to make contact with her.

At the guest house, she comes into contact with Finn, a charismatic diver, who makes it clear he finds her attractive in spite of her scar, and they spend some time together.

Kirsty is facing an uncertain future. Will her stay on the island help her to recover from the accident? She is tempted to respond to the attentions of Finn, but should she make an effort to patch up her marriage to Adam?