"A meaty read"
Perhaps it is simply because of his age or more
complexly the end of Pax Britannia, but Scottish family
patriarch Owen Franklin retires from heading up the family
shipbuilding business. While the European superpowers
begin an arms race heading towards the Great War, Owen
distributes shares of stock to his male descendent and to
their shock his granddaughter Lindsay. Her "partners" believe Lindsay being a teenage female
will be easy to manipulate. They even foster an Irish
cousin Forbes McCullough on her. However, as the twentieth
century begins to unfold, Lindsay is determined to
understand her family business so that she can contribute.
She quickly learns one of the principles of life that a
woman must be at least twice as smart and toil twice as
hard as a male to gain a semblance of acceptance and
respect. Now she begins a trek to gain control of her life
and the family ship building company as the men in her
circle try to manipulate her in the boardroom and the
bedroom. THE PIPER'S TUNE, a turn of the previous century
character study, digs deep into a bygone era so that fans
of historical novels will have a taste for the early
Edwardian age. However, the story line moves very slowly
as the heroine leisurely and at times tediously learns
about life while competing with males. The metamorphosis
of Lindsay will engage those readers who relish a casually
paced plot that Jessica Stirling microscopically focuses on
the heroine. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted March 15, 2002
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