Before the Swallows Come Back

Perfect for fans of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, and Sal by Mik Kitson, with its celebration of the natural world, its misunderstood central characters living on the outside of society's norms, their survival in the wilderness, and the ultimate fight for justice.

Tommy struggles with people, with communicating, preferring solitude, drifting off with nature. He is protected by his Scottish Tinker family who keep to the old ways. A way of life that is disappearing. A life of quiet seclusion under canvas is all that he knows.

Charlotte cares for her sickly father. She meets Tommy by the riverside and an unexpected friendship develops. Over the years it becomes something more, something crucial to both of them. But when tragedy strikes each family they are torn apart.

Charlotte is sent far away.

Tommy might have done something very bad.

Before the Swallows Come Back is a beautiful story of love, found family, and redemption that will break your heart and have it soaring time and time again as you sit, desperately hoping for the triumph of goodness over adversity. For justice.

Fiona was the winner of the Federation of Writers (Scotland) short story competition, 2023. She is a Scottish writer who spent fifteen years teaching in international schools, predominantly in Eastern Europe. After becoming ill she had to return home. Not one to remain idle, she turned to the Open University where she studied creative writing, completing both courses with distinction, and discovering a new passion. She has since written five books, four under the pen name of F J Curlew, but she has now reverted to using her given name. She finds it difficult to be content without a work in progress. That escape into a world of her own making is something very special! Before the Swallows Come Back was sparked by a meeting she had with a Tinker family many years ago, in rural Perthshire. They invited her to sit by their fire, outside their bender, and listen to stories. It was fascinating, inspirational and never left her. The conservation of natural habitats and their wildlife is hugely important to her (yes, she a bit of an eco-warrior!) and the Tinkers and their way of life seemed to lend themselves to carrying this theme.