People Like Ourselves is a trilogy of novels set after the Great War in the Scottish town of Priorsford and portray a small town life in southern Scotland.
“Penny Plain” — The impoverished Jardine family of siblings lives in a small town of Priorsford, Scotland. Their heroine is Jean, the oldest one at 23, who looks after her three younger brothers in their house called The Rigs. Their situation changes when a wealthy and sophisticated lady from London names Pamela moves nearby and makes acquaintance with the Jardines. Pamela has an eligible younger brother who takes an interest to Jean.
“Pink Sugar” — After spending past 20 years travelling around the world with her glamorous stepmother, Kirsty Gilmour, a 30 years old Scottish woman goes back to Scotland. Her stepmother has died and left her with a decent amount of money and the freedom to do what she pleases for the first time in her life. She chooses to buy a cottage in a small Scottish village and she decides to share it with other people as she desires to “live for others”. She invites her old aunt to live with her, hires an upper-class landlord and brings three motherless children to live with her for a while.
“Priorsford” — Lady Bidsborough, formerly Jean Jardine of Priorsford, is now the mistress of Mintern Abbas, a grand home in England. She is also the mother of three children. When her husband, Biddy, feels a moral obligation to accompany the friend, who saved his life during the Great War, on a long trip, Jean decides to spend the winter in her beloved Priorsford. With a menagerie of children, pets, maids and a secretary, she returns to The Rigs.
