On my blog today I am delighted once more to be hosting NANCY JARDINE, sharing news of the recent publication of her new book, Fraying Skeins. This is the third novel in Nancy’s Silver Sampler series, set in Victorian Scotland.
You can find out more about Fraying Skeins below but, first, read an intriguing post from Nancy about how and why the town of St. Andrews found its way into the book!
St. Andrews – Home of Golf
by Nancy Jardine
How did the golf town of St. Andrews sneak into Fraying Skeins, Book Three of my Silver Sampler Series? Quite simply, it had to do with some of my ancestors having lived there around 1870. While doing some ancestry research, I found that the 1871 Census Record noted my forebears as living there. Since I love visiting St. Andrews, it seemed a great idea at the time of writing Fraying Skeins, to have my characters move south to live in St. Andrews for a few years.
In the process of researching the St. Andrews area for my novel, I found out some nice little nuggets of information. These might have been relevant to the daily life of my great-grands – very speculative, but nice to consider.
“But! I said to myself,” at one early point in the manuscript writing of Fraying Skeins. “Margaret Law, my main female character (the subject of the whole series) is living in Aberdeen. What would have been a sufficiently big enough inducement to make my private tutor/seamstress character make a move from Aberdeen to the university seaside town of St. Andrews?”
The answer didn’t come immediately to me. In all honesty, I was stumped for a couple of days. I toyed with some ideas. Margaret is giving a few students, at Marischal College in Aberdeen, some basic tuition to organise their weekly submissions to their professors. Could that, somehow, lead to her tutoring in St. Andrews University? Not really the greatest of ideas since female tutors at St. Andrews University would have been unheard of in 1870. However, further research did indicate that a small number of females were enrolled for classes in a few subject areas at St. Andrews. They were working through the same curriculum as their male counterparts even though the females were not allowed to officially graduate. However, a link for Margaret directly to the university still wasn’t credible for me. I needed something else.
Fortunately for me, the following Sunday was the end of the month ‘drop-in’ Zoom session with my fellow RNA Scottish Chapter authors (Romantic Novelist Association). At these sessions we meet at 10 am, declare to any attendees what our writing goals are going to be for the day, then later on at 4pm we reconvene and discuss our progress. It’s a fantastic way to keep up the momentum on a manuscript, and a great sounding board when stuck with something. When I put forward my need for my seamstress/tutor to visit St. Andrews, one of my fellow authors suggested it should be to do with female golfers.
“Female Golfers?” I asked.
Vanessa just happens to live close by St. Andrews and knew that some very enterprising women had formed the first female golf club at St. Andrews, sometime around the 1870s.
That was all I needed to launch in and find out about golf in St. Andrews and more specifically women golfers and their clothing. Margaret finds herself sent to St. Andrews by her seamstress boss. Margaret’s task is to find out how females are adapting their somewhat restrictive clothing in order to swing a golf club. That certainly wasn’t easy when wearing some very tightly sleeved garments, a breath-stealing corset and maybe even a bustle. Margaret’s boss insists on getting the information very quickly so that she doesn’t lose the custom of a very prominent young lady in Aberdeen, who in turn draws in more commissions for the dressmaker.
The research sites and books I looked at provided interesting information about the restrictions placed on the ladies of the St. Andrews Ladies Golf Club (established 1867). This was later changed to the St. Andrews Ladies Putting Club because, in fact, they were not allowed to swing a driver, to send the ball whizzing down the course. They were allowed on a particular green, when they had made a suitable booking, since the course was a public one, but only to do some genteel putting of the ball into the hole. I’m fairly sure that didn’t stop some adventurous ladies (as in my entertaining secondary characters) from doing a little bit of bending the rules. However, even the bending necessary to do a little putting of the ball meant some alterations to clothing. And … it was exciting to find out that the St. Andrews Ladies Golf Club is reputed to be the oldest female-only golf club in the world.
This is unfortunately the earliest photo I can find, some 20 years later than my book is set, but you can still see the somewhat restrictive clothing worn.
I was relieved and delighted to find a way to link some of the historical information to my character Margaret ultimately making a house move to St. Andrews where she does do some tutoring, though not at the university!
But … and there’s nearly always a but, the idea of sending Margaret down from Aberdeen to St. Andrews on a daytrip, or even one of a couple of days, meant researching how she would get there by train.
It’s just as well that I love to research.
Image Link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ladies_Putting_Club_1894_on_The_Himalayas_with_Old_Tom_Morris.jpg
More information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Andrews_Ladies%27_Putting_Club
© Nancy Jardine
What is Fraying Skeins about?
Escape In Paradise Evasion
1870 Scotland
Fleeing from Peterhead, Margaret Law makes Aberdeen her refuge. Menial jobs keep her and her toddler son fed – till an unusual tutoring task boosts her finances, and self-worth. Letters to best friend Jessie contain the absolute truth, especially when Johnny Fraser re-enters her life. Is he the man for Margaret to grow old with? When better employment emerges in St. Andrews, Margaret is torn. Will the move mean losing Johnny?
When Johnny follows Margaret to St. Andrews, their life together is idyllic. But when menacing secrets unfold, will Johnny’s past indiscretions be their undoing? Will he lose the cherished family he is establishing with Margaret?
Praise for Fraying Skeins:
“Jardine has once again brought nineteenth-century Scotland vividly to life while keeping Margaret and the people around her firmly at the heart of the story. Watching the determined little girl I first met in Novice Threads grow into this resourceful and courageous woman has been immensely rewarding, and there are more than enough intriguing threads left to make me eager to continue Margaret’s journey in the next instalment.” The Coffee Pot Book Club 5* Editorial Review
Book details
Fraying Skeins was published on 29th August 2026 by Nancy Jardine with Ocelot Press, and is available as an eBook and in paperback. It is available to read in Kindle Unlimited.
Buy Link
About the author
Nancy Jardine
Nancy Jardine writes historical adventure fiction, historical saga, time travel historical adventure and contemporary mysteries. Research gobbles up lots of time but it’s a delight, and never a chore. Her garden wouldn’t win any prizes but tending it is a great way to unwind and gives her some lovely plants to post on Instagram!
When not creating her novels, or promoting her writing, she loves to interact with readers at Book and Craft Fairs where she signs/sells paperback versions of her novels. Recently she’s taken part in author panels at Book Festivals.
Memberships include: Historical Novel Society; Society of Authors; Scottish Association of Writers; Federation of Writers Scotland; Romantic Novelists’ Association; and Alliance of Independent Authors. She’s self-published with Ocelot Press.
You can connect with Nancy and follow her on Social Media:
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