The Stolen Hours

‘A dramatic start to a gripping new series . . . meticulously researched and beautifully told by one of our most prolific and talented writers’ - Santa Montefiore on The Last Summer

An Island full of secrets . . .

It’s the summer of 1929 and Mhairi MacKinnon is in need of a husband. As the eldest girl among nine children, her father has made it clear that he can’t support her past the coming winter. Options are limited on the island of St Kilda, but the MacKinnons’ neighbour, Donald, has a business acquaintance on Harris also in need of a spouse and offers to chaperone Mhairi there on his final crossing of the year.

She returns an engaged woman, but is in love with the wrong man – one who can never be hers. As she dreads the spring, when she will be sent from home to become a stranger’s wife, word arrives that St Kilda is to be evacuated.

The lovers are granted a few more stolen hours together, but those last days on St Kilda also bring heartache for Mhairi and her friends. And, when a dead body is discovered on the abandoned isle, they all find themselves under the shadow of suspicion . . .

The Stolen Hours is the second book in Karen Swan’s bestselling Wild Isle series, which began with The Last Summer.

Praise for The Last Summer (book one):

'Powerful writing and a wonderful premise make this a novel you’ll simultaneously want to savour and race through. I loved it and can’t wait for the next in the series!' - Jill Mansell, author of Promise Me

'The most exciting, enchanting and evocative story of forbidden love I’ve ever read. I truly loved it and am waiting feverishly for the second instalment' - Cathy Bramley, author of The Sunrise Sisterhood