Emma (Iain) Blair

(born 1942 - died0 July 2011) - Glasgow

Iain Blair – photo used with kind permission from http://www.emma-blair.com

In the author’s own words, Emma Blair was “about late forties, a bit of a tough cookie and had a certain amount of personal tragedy which is why she writes with such passion” – which all seems fine and well, apart from the fact that the author writing as Emma Blair was a 6'3" Glaswegian man who enjoyed a pint and a smoke.

Iain Blair was born in Glasgow in 1942 and worked first as an insurance agent and lifeguard before becoming a journalist with the Sunday Post. After deciding to become an actor he studied at the RSAMD and took on roles for radio, television and stage, including the Royal Shakespeare Company. From acting he moved to playwriting and then began writing novels, where he took on the Emma Blair pseudonym upon the publication of Where No Man Cries.

The decision to write under a pen name was made by Blair’s publisher, who believed that romance novels and historical fiction would sell better under a woman’s name. Iain Blair secretly wrote as Emma for over a decade before revealing his true identity to the media when his novel Scarlet Ribbbons was nominated for the Romantic Novel of the Year award.

Iain Blair wrote around 30 romance novels and sold over 2 million books. His titles often featured on the library most-borrowed list. He stopped writing in 2007 after being diagnosed with diabetes and died in 2011 at home in Torquay.

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An Apple From Eden
Emma Blair - Paperback - Piatkus
Divided by class, wealth and religion, the Seatons and the Flynns could not live more different lives. As the Great War fades from memory, the affairs of both families are about to become tragically entangled.
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Arrows Of Desire
Emma Blair - Paperback - Sphere
When Steve is killed during enemy action, Beth is devastated. They were due to elope to Gretna Green & their happiness was complete with the news that Beth is pregnant. But now, alone & unmarried, Beth must survive by herself in war-torn Glasgow. When Beth meets handsome Canadian Gene, a friendship begins & she finds happiness.
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Finding Happiness
Emma Blair - Paperback - Time Warner
Sandy McLean is training to be a doctor to follow in his father's footsteps - indeed, to surpass his father who is just a general practitioner: Sandy is to become a top surgeon. Or so his father insists. But Sandy really wants to be an artist.
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Flower Of Scotland
Emma Blair - Paperback - Sphere
This is a story of a family of whisky distillers from Perthshire and how the war affects all of them in different ways. As the war ends and they return home to Scotland, they are a different family and must cope with the changes.
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Forget-Me-Not
Emma Blair - Paperback - Sphere
Minna runs a small boarding house in Torquay and brings up her son, Tim, who becomes a journalist until the The Great War disrupts his life. Sent home after a breakdown, he discovers his true love but she is pressurised to marry another.
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Goodnight, Sweet Prince
Emma Blair - Paperback - Sphere
Continuing the story of Flower of Scotland, the Drummond family are still dealing with the aftermath of the First World War but now they must also face the horrors the Second World War will bring.
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Half Hidden
Emma Blair - Paperback - Piatkus
Holly's fiancé is killed at Dunkirk and she throws all her energy into her nursing skills, convinced that she will never love again. Then friendship turns to love between Holly and a young German doctor, Peter Schmidt. They soon have to fight together.
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Hester Dark
Emma Blair - Paperback - Piatkus
Even to a girl from the slums of Bristol, the streets of Glasgow were inhospitable and grey; the wealth and splendour of its mansions cold and heartless. But for Hester Dark, there could be no turning back - she would make this cruel city the home of her dreams.
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Jessie Gray
Emma Blair - Paperback - Piatkus
The first time Jessie laid eyes on Tommy McBride was in November 1947, when they were still at school - and long before she knew anything about heartbreak or pain. But in 1947 the world was about to move into new decades of turbulence and change - and it was only the fighters and the dreamers who would make it theirs.
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Little White Lies
Emma Blair - Paperback - Sphere
For sixteen-year old Lizzie McDougall, life in the Glasgow tenements comes as a culture shock after her upbringing in the Highlands. But for her father, Glasgow offers employment. The city enables Lizzie to expand her horizons too - through her work as a seamstress she makes new friends and meets Jack.
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Maggie Jordan
Emma Blair - Paperback - Sphere
When most of Maggie Jordan's family are killed in a freak flood, she is forced to find work in a Glasgow carpet mill. She becomes engaged to Nevil Sanderson, who then suddenly decides to go and fight with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War.
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Maggie Jordan
Emma Blair - Paperback - Warner
When most of Maggie Jordan's family are killed in a freak flood, she is forced to find work in a Glasgow carpet mill. She becomes engaged to Nevil Sanderson, who then suddenly decides to go and fight with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War.
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Moonlit Eyes
Emma Blair - Paperback - Time Warner
When Pee Wee Poston and his wife Beulah are offered the chance to swap New York for London, they jump at the chance. But life for a black family in interwar London isn't easy. When the Nazi bombs arrive, life gets tougher still.
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Moonlit Eyes
Emma Blair - Paperback - Sphere
When Pee Wee Poston and his wife Beulah are offered the chance to swap New York for London, they jump at the chance. But life for a black family in interwar London isn't easy. When the Nazi bombs arrive, life gets tougher still.
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A Most Determined Woman
Emma Blair - Paperback - Time Warner
For Sarah Hawke, daughter of an impoverished miner, life offered little beyond the grime of 1890s Glasgow and the eternal drudgery of back-breaking work. But then a mysterious stranger arrives, catapulting Sarah into a world of luxury and wealth.
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A Most Determined Woman
Emma Blair - Paperback - Sphere
For Sarah Hawke, daughter of an impoverished miner, life offered little beyond the grime of 1890s Glasgow and the eternal drudgery of back-breaking work. But then a mysterious stranger arrives, catapulting Sarah into a world of luxury and wealth.
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Nellie Wildchild
Emma Blair - Paperback - Piatkus
Glaswegian Nellie Thompson had been born into a poor city divided by religion and class, where appearences meant more than the truth. Nellie had held onto her dreams, however, and was determined to leave the grey and violent streets behind her.
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Princess Of Poor Street
Emma Blair - Paperback - Time Warner
'The Princess of Poor Street' is set in Glasgow during the depression. Vicky Devine is determined to pull through and make something of her life. With love fueling her strength and courage, her spirit and determination will never be broken.
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Scarlet Ribbons
Emma Blair - Paperback - Piatkus
Sadie Smith, born with a degenerative hip, is unable to walk. Sent to a Dr Barnardo's home for treatment, she is so excited that she fails to realize she will never see her beloved family again.
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Street Song
Emma Blair - Paperback - Time Warner
Susan's parents had wanted a son - and they did little to hide their disappointment. If only they could have known! In the tradition-bound Scotland of the 1940s, there was no place for a woman like Susan. But she was determined to find one.
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Sweethearts
Emma Blair - Paperback - Sphere
'Sweethearts' follows Lexa and Cordelia Stewart as they strive to find happiness in the tough Glasgow of the 1930s. The death of their father forces them to make changes - but how will they find their way in what is very much a man's world? It is precisely because of a man that both sisters are thrown into a turmoil.
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This Side Of Heaven
Emma Blair - Paperback - Piatkus
When Sheila Beattie was 16 she knew exactly what her future would be. She would marry her darling Eric and they would raise their family and dream their simple dreams. But she was 16 and about to discover that not everyone in life could be trusted.
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This Side Of Heaven
Emma Blair - Paperback - Piatkus
When Sheila Beattie was 16 she knew exactly what her future would be. She would marry her darling Eric and they would raise their family and dream their simple dreams. But she was 16 and about to discover that not everyone in life could be trusted.
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Three Bites Of The Cherry
Emma Blair - Paperback - Sphere
Georgie Mair's first husband dies tragically from leukaemia. Three years later love comes once more into her life in the form of Charlie Gunn, who saves her life after an explosion at her work. But as their relationship blossoms into marriage, Georgie gets the feeling that her second chance at true love is too good to be true.
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Twilight Time
Emma Blair - Paperback - Time Warner
Set in Devon during both the 1920s and 1960s, 'Twilight Time' follows the lives and loves of sisters Crista and Maggs. In later life, Maggs is running a village pub with her husband, while Crista is a widow with three adult children. Then Crista meets Max. Can love win through in those greying years?
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Where No Man Cries
Emma Blair - Paperback - Sphere
Glasgow between the wars is a town divided, taut with violence and steeped in hardship, a town with no time for dreams. Angus McBain knows that better than most: being poor has killed his father and aged his mother before her time. But he is determined to be his own man, to make his own place, and share it with the woman he loves.
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Wild Strawberries
Emma Blair - Paperback - Warner
Maizie is struggling to keep the Paris Hotel open whilst her husband is in the army during World War 2. A French soldier stays at the hotel after Dunkirk and she becomes pregnant. After he leaves for France she realises she can't follow him.
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Wild Strawberries
Emma Blair - Paperback - Sphere
Maizie is struggling to keep the Paris Hotel open whilst her husband is in the army during World War 2. A French soldier stays at the hotel after Dunkirk and she becomes pregnant. After he leaves for France she realises she can't follow him.