An author has published a third book inspired by her family tree and childhood in Coatbridge – completing a trilogy of works which originally began simply as a short story.
Escape from Gartsherrie by Alexandra Morris picks up the story of recurring characters Sam Johnstone and Maria Riley who had eloped to Australia in the first part of the series, and charts both their adventures on the other side of the world plus the lives of families and friends back in their home town.
It follows on from her successful earlier titles, The Laws of Gartsherrie and Beyond Gartsherrie, respectively published in 2015 and 2019; and responds to the books’ popularity among ex-pats and the positive feedback Alexandra has received since their publication.
Alexandra lived in Long Row from the age of eight and attended Gartsherrie Primary; she stayed in the area until getting married and originally began writing to tell and preserve the history of the area – from the family stories shared by her beloved mother and aunt, Jessie and Mary Law, to the community’s heavy industry and experiences in the first half of the 20th century.
She told Lanarkshire Live: “It started off as a short story and I wasn’t thinking about writing a trilogy of books; the first was very much based on my mum and family and the second was much more from my imagination and research of the period, and then I kept getting requests for a third book.
“That’s much harder as the first book is just about starting to put ideas on paper and write it, but by this time there’s a lot more research as all the names, dates and ages have to tie in together.
“I’d had lots of people writing to me from abroad as people were sending copies of the first books to their relatives – that made me think about the diaspora that came from Coatbridge, so I’ve made the third book all about that.
“The characters in the first book leave due to the religious prejudice they experience and this follows their adventure in going to Australia and the lives they lead; there were so many people who emigrated abroad or to other parts of the UK to make a new life for themselves or to find work.
“Both Gartsherrie and Glenboig are set into the story through letters home; the timeframe is from 1917 until just after the end of the Second World War, when there were many changes in the lives of working people.”
Alexandra spent around 18 months writing the book over a three-year period and thanked husband Paul for encouraging her to ensure it was finished and published after spells during lockdown in its progress slowed down.
She added: “A lot of people are doing their family trees from this time and these add to that by telling how people lived – what did they eat, how much money did they have, how were wives treated, what kind of medical services did they have?
“For me, the books are very much for my mum and aunt and all the family; my mum brought me up and my aunt taught me to cook, and I used to ask questions about the family, about wartime and the community.”
She has now published a total of four volumes, with the Gartsherrie trilogy being supplemented by short-story anthology Voices from the Cape, written while living in South Africa and comprising “coffee time” stories telling the tales of various members of the community.
Now living in Ayrshire, she next plans to research her father’s side of the family tree and to discover stories and inspiration which she hopes will become the basis for her next work.
The author added: “I’ve met a lot of people through publishing the books, like [Glenboig author] Terry Watson, who emailed me after my first was published and we’ve become great friends – writing has opened up a lot of doors.
“I’m disabled and spend years making sure there were never pictures of me in a wheelchair or using sticks, but now I’m proudly doing that and I want to show that everyone can accomplish their dream.”
Alexandra has a website at AJMorris.me.uk and her books, including latest publication Escape from Gartsherrie, are available on Amazon.
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