A Fine Line

A story of the extraordinary lives of ordinary people.

Set between Victorian Liverpool and Dundee and the battlefields of the First World War, three families face the perils of life on the economic cliff-edge, where a single misstep can send lives plunging out of control.

Crossing a century of dramatic change, their journey begins in the aftermath of the slave trade, moving through the era of Empire expansion and Industrial Revolution to a time of religious strife and global conflict.

The world they navigate is one fraught with hazard in which exploitation, zealotry and violence lead to rape, prostitution, fraud, and murder.

At its heart, two indomitable women – lifelong friends – choose very different paths as they strive to hold their worlds together, and to survive.

David Gilbertson read English and Modern Languages at Cambridge University before beginning a career in journalism and business information publishing. He was editor of Lloyd’s List and managing director of The Lancet and went on to head two of the UK’s largest information groups Informa and Emap. He now advises media companies as a non-executive director. Born in Wallasey, he and his wife now divide their time between London and Provence.