Kate is in the not necessarily sad limbo of widowhood when Big Murdo and Wee Murdo arrive in her kitchen with alarming news. Hasn't she heard about her daughter Mhairi's marriage? Confronting Mhairi on her return from college, Kate finds that she is indeed married, and what's more, has a baby on the way. But the husband isn't the father, and the father is nowhere to be found . . .

Circling at the very edge of this picture is Jamie, a homeless young man fleeing ghosts of his own. When Mhairi is driven to a terrible act, his path briefly crosses the women's, with surprising consequences.

Offering a wry contemporary perspective on Highland life, Upstairs in the Tent is a warm, forgiving novel about people's need to find their home in the world.