Daisy Chain

Maggie Ritchie £16.99 TWO ROADS

Discover the story of the Glasgow Girls, a real group of women artists in the early 20th Century, whose work and accomplishments were only widely recognised in 1990.

The novel opens in Kirkcudbright, where Lily and Jeanie share bold ambitions to succeed in the arts: Lily as a painter and Jeanie as a dancer. They lose touch, but a chance encounter brings them back together in Glasgow, where Lily attends the Glasgow School of Art and Jeanie finds success on stage.

The research that has gone into this novel is clear, and Ritchie’s vivid descriptions give us insight into the contrast within Glasgow between the famous Mackintosh School of Art Building to the crowded streets and dank tenements.

Through Lily’s art, we perceive the disparity between the lives of those who buy her art, and the residents of the Cowcaddens slums who become her subjects.

From the grey streets of Glasgow, we are transported to a cacophony of colour when Lily travels with her husband to China and we explore the glamour of 1920s Shanghai.

Ritchie was awarded a grant to research this novel in Shanghai and makes good use of this to provide a rich context for Lily and Jeanie’s story. Beginning around this period there was shift in political climate towards the Shanghailanders – foreign settlers, mostly European and American, in Shanghai. This bubbles in the background, but the climax of our story largely focuses on the interpersonal relationships between our characters and the impact of loss and trauma.

This is a very readable novel – both heart-breaking and hopeful. Both protagonists are hugely likeable, perhaps too likeable, as you may find yourself wondering if Lily has any flaws.

The emphasis of friendship and the value of creativity is what makes Daisy Chain a compelling read and an excellent homage to The Glasgow Girls, so nearly forgotten in time.

“An excellent homage to The Girls” Glasgow