Goodmans of Glassford Street by Margaret Thomson Davis
"Goodmans of Glassford Street" is the story of a successful but old-fashioned family department store and the lives and conflicts of the people who work in it, including the strong-willed matriarch Abigail Goodman.Douglas Benson, Abigail's son-in-law, is determined to gain control of the store and completely modernise it. He becomes more and more ruthless and devious in his methods to oust Abigail but Abigail is determined to hold on to the business and keep it as it is. She and her late husband, Tom, had taken over Goodmans of Glassford Street from Tom's father and built the business up together. All her memories of her much-loved husband are tied up with the store and the big villa on the outskirts of Glasgow where they had been so happy together. She needs to cling to both. They are all she has left of the happy life she and Tom shared.As the struggle for control of the store escalates, Abigail's son John - an MSP who spends much of his time in Edinburgh - presents the family with another crisis. A serial killer is stalking the closes and wynds of the Royal Mile and it looks like John may be a suspect. It's a bitter blow to Abigail and the Goodman family at an already uncertain time."Goodmans of Glassford Street" is a powerful story of a family torn apart by personal conflict and the struggle for control of the business and of one woman's determination to protect both her family and her life's work.