Jessica stirling is one of the pre-

m ier historical novelists no, writ-

ing. She is most famous for the

Holly Beckman trilogy of novels

set in the Scottish countryside. In

Creature Comforts, she continues

her sumptuous new trilogy--also

set in Scotland--that was inaugu-

rated by Treasures on Earth: a

colorful, deeply felt saga of the

lives and loves of the indomitable

Gaddy Patterson and her daugh-

ters, Elspeth and Anna.

By the year 1813 the good folk of

the Scottish village of Balnesmoor

are able to breathe freely, for it

appears that Gaddy Patterson s

wayward daughters are at last set-

tled in marriage. Elspeth is wife to

James Moodie, wealthy owner of a

thriving woolen mill; Anna to Matt

Sinclair, son of the respected gov-

ernor of Ottershaw. But Elspeth s

marriage is a loveless sham,

clouded by an unthinkable secret

known only to her husband; and

Anna, selfish and impetuous, has

no time for Matt and dreams only

nf the day when Randall Bontine

will return from the war in Spain

to lay claim to Ottershaw and to

her.

For Elspeth the discovery of

love and its consequences throws

a shadnw over the future by forc-

ing James Moodie into a desperate

act of retributton.