The Jewel by Catherine Czerkawska

A historical novel about Jean Armour, the ‘Belle of Mauchline’ - a beautiful young woman with the voice of a nightingale, who was courted by a certain mercurial, notorious ploughman-poet.

Their extraordinary marriage was passionate, tempestuous, and enduring against all odds, and its rocky course reveals Jean’s indomitable strength and character. How she lived with, and frequently without, Scotland’s most famous son tells us much about the Burns himself, and makes a compelling and dramatic story, all against a back­ground simmering with political intrigue and turmoil.