Welcome
to maggieritchie.com where you can find all you need to know about award-winning author and journalist Maggie Ritchie.
Keep up to date with my books, writing, events and blog with the links at the side.
Daisy Chain by Maggie Ritchie was published in hardback on 10 June 2021 by Two Roads. The paperback comes out on 9 June 2022.
Lily Crawford and Jeanie Taylor, from very different backgrounds, are firm friends from their childhoods in Kirkcudbright. They share their ambitions for their futures, Lily to be an artist, Jeanie to be a dancer.
Inspired by the eventful and colourful lives of the pioneering women artists The Glasgow Girls, Daisy Chain is a story of independence, resilience and female friendship, set against the turbulent background of the early years of the 20th Century.
‘Evocative and intelligent. A wholly delightful novel [that] celebrates friendship, love, kindness and devotion to creative work.’ – Allan Massie, The Scotsman
‘It is female friendship – not love – which conquers all in this evocative and highly readable novel.’ – The Herald
‘An excellent homage to the Glasgow Girls . . . a very readable novel – both heart-breaking and hopeful.’ – Amy Jeffries, Scots Magazine
Looking for Evelyn (2017, Saraband) was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for Best Published Novel 2018.
Chrissie Docherty returns to the southern Africa of her childhood and tracks down Evelyn Fielding, the woman at the centre of an explosive scandal involving a traditional colonial officer and a gifted black African artist. Together, the two women uncover the secrets that shattered a remote expatriate outpost in the Zambian bush in the 1970s. Switching deftly between the 1990s and the recent past, and set against a background of tense post-colonial race relations, political turmoil and witchcraft, Looking for Evelyn powerfully evokes the very special colours, sounds and smells of Africa.
‘If you’re looking for a holiday book to transport you to Southern Africa, this is it.’ – Scottish Daily Mail
‘A moving, rich read that skilfully combines the threads of the story, and brings Africa to life.’ – Sunday Mirror
My debut novel Paris Kiss (2015, Saraband) won the Curtis Brown Prize. It follows young English sculptress Jessie Lipscomb who joins her friend Camille to become a protégée of the great Auguste Rodin in 1880s bohemian Paris. But when Rodin and Camille embark on a scandalous affair, Jessie is cast as their unwilling go-between and their friendship unravels.
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‘Flows from the page like a piece of art.’ Sunday Mirror
‘Jessie’s adventures as a woman artist in 1880s Paris completely captivated me. A wonderful story.’ Carmen Reid
‘An intense and satisfying story – an insight into the constraints on passionate and talented women in the Parisian art world at the turn of the century. It will haunt you.’ Sara Sheridan
– more of Paris Kiss in the press
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You can read about the inspiration behind Paris Kiss in the book group section along with contemporary photography and a reading guide.
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