Isla Dewar

(born 1951 -) Edinburgh

Isla Dewar now lives in the coastal town of Crail in the East Neuk of Fife with her husband Bob, a political cartoonist. They have two sons.

Prior to writing and publishing her novels Isla wrote articles for newspapers and magazines. She took a long time to finally pluck up the courage to send her first novel to an agent, but within a week she had been signed up and the first publisher who saw the manuscript offered her a two book deal. Her first book, Keeping Up With Magda, was published in 1995. Dewar found greater success with her second novel, Women Talking Dirty (1996), which was turned into a film starring Helena Bonham Carter. She has also contributed to the collection Scottish Girls About Town.

Isla Dewar has also written for children: the picture book Rosie's Wish and the young adult novel Walking with Rainbows, which was re-issued as Briggsy in 2008. Her most recent novel is A Winter Bride, set in Edinburgh in the 1950s.

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Briggsy
Isla Dewar - Paperback - Barrington Stoke
Briggsy's family travels with the fairground and when he turns up at Minnie's school, Minnie knows he's not like the other boys. Although not everyone welcomes the travellers, Briggsy's passion for life ensures that the time Minnie spends with him is going to change her life forever.
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The Consequences Of Marriage
Isla Dewar - Paperback - Headline Review
When James McElroy reads Bibi Saunders' advert for a lodger, he pictures a glamorous young landlady with whom he will have a pleasant, bantering relationship. In fact Bibi is a much older woman, once beautiful, now wise, and still full of 'joie de vivre'.
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Dancing In A Distant Place
Isla Dewar - Paperback - Review
When teacher Iris Chisholm arrives in the tiny Highland village, she's still in a state of shock - not just from her husband's death, but from the massive debts he concealed from her. The locals are heartened by her support for the children of her school, but shocked by her feisty approach to life.
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Getting Out Of The House
Isla Dewar - Paperback - Headline Review
Nora was devastated when her mother, Maisie, told her she preferred her older daughter, Cathryn. Now, Nora lives happily in Edinburgh. But when Maisie's world falls apart, she and Cathryn think it obvious that Nora should be the one to pick up the pieces.
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Giving Up On Ordinary
Isla Dewar - Paperback - Review
Cleaner Megs Williams spars constantly with her mother, brings up her 3 children single-handed, and drinks away her troubles with her friend Lorraine in a nightclub. But Megs isn't content with her life, and decides it's time for change.
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Izzy's War
Isla Dewar - Paperback - Ebury
Izzy feels hugely guilty that she's having a very good war. Having learned to fly in a travelling circus before the war, she's now joined the Air Transport Auxiliary as one of their few female pilots and is having the time of her life. The only cloud on the horizon is having to lie to her father about her exact role in the ATA.
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Rosie's Wish
Isla Dewar - Hardback - Black & White
Rosie wants the real Christmas, like they have in films. One day she finds Mrs Hawthorn's purse in the street. When she returns it, Mrs Hawthorn gives Rosie a wish from her garden.
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Secrets Of A Family Album
Isla Dewar - Paperback - Review
This story focuses on several generations of one family during one year of their lives. At the heart of the novel is Lily, sister of Marie and Rory, wife of Art, daughter of Mattie and John and granddaughter of Grandpa.
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Two Kinds Of Wonderful
Isla Dewar - Paperback - Review
Roz committed the ultimate sin of motherhood - she left her children behind when she couldn't stand another day living with her obsessive husband Matthew. Years later, trying to rebuild the relationship, her daughter is unforgiving.
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A Winter Bride
Isla Dewar - Hardback - Ebury
While her mother regards the Locarno Dancehall as a den of iniquity, for 17-year-old Nell McClusky, it's the centre of the universe. Where else is she going to meet the man of her dreams who'll take her away from the hum-drum realities of life on a council estate in 1950s Edinburgh?
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The Woman Who Painted Her Dreams
Isla Dewar - Paperback - Review
Madeline Green adores her father, he is her hero. When he dies Madeline is still in her teens. She stumbles forward into life with one burning ambition - to paint. Seeking release she begins to paint her wild dreams.
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Women Talking Dirty
Isla Dewar - Paperback - Review
From the author of Keeping up with Madga this novel tells of the lives and loves of two friends, Ellen Quinn and Cora O'Brien. The two of them still have plenty to learn about life, but at least if something goes wrong, there's someone to talk to.