Write From the Heart

"Writing My Life" is the inspirational story of how, against all odds, Margaret Thomson Davis became a successful writer. From an early age, Margaret's father would tell her and her younger brother frightening bedtime stories like "Maria Marten" and the "Murder in the Red Barn" and Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber". And, when her brother then had nightmares, young Margaret would make up a 'nice' story to calm him down and get him off to sleep. At school, her natural storytelling instincts came to the fore and she would make sure that there was always a cliffhanger to the story she was telling just as the bell rang for class. And she also found it was a skill that kept the school bullies at bay. But it was a long way from telling playground stories to becoming a successful writer. "Writing My Life recounts" Margaret's personal struggles through an unhappy childhood, the premature death of her younger brother and her difficult relationship with her mother. Often, her mother would leave her father with no warning and move out of the family home, taking her son with her but leaving Margaret at home alone. But these difficult childhood experiences, coupled with an unhappy marriage of her own, gave Margaret Thomson Davis the building blocks for her career as a writer and, after the success of The Breadmakers in 1972, she has never looked back. "Writing My Life" is a personal story where the truth is often stranger than fiction and where Margaret Thomson Davis's love of Glasgow and its people shines through. A moving and hugely entertaining autobiography, it will appeal to her many fans and general readers alike.