The Antimacassar City

'A sumptuous, superbly immersive epic: witty, with gutsy, beautifully drawn characters' - Adele Parks MBE The first novel in Guy McCrone's beloved Wax Fruit Trilogy, chronicling the rise - and trials - of the Moorhouse family in Victorian Glasgow. Glasgow: the second city of the Empire. A booming metropolis where fortunes are made, reputations forged, and ambition knows no bounds. Into this world steps Arthur Moorhouse, a determined young man who has risen from modest beginnings in rural Ayrshire to establish a thriving merchant business and a name for his family. But success comes at a cost. As the Moorhouses climb the social ladder, they face fierce rivalries, internal tensions, and the ever-watchful eyes of Glasgow's elite. When tragedy strikes, Arthur and his spirited new wife, Bel, take in his orphaned halfsister, Phoebe - a bold and determined young woman whose arrival will alter the family's destiny. Set against the backdrop of a city in transformation, Antimacassar City is a sweeping tale of ambition, loyalty, and the price of progress. As the Moorhouses rise, so too do the stakes - because the higher you climb, the harder the fall. 'Wax Fruit recaptures the atmosphere of the period most effectively' - The Herald 'Very fine indeed' - Glasgow Evening Citizen