The entail, or, The lairds of Grippy

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In this horrifying study of an obsession, Claude, the eighteenth century Glasgow merchant, with his lust for property ("gear") and land, victimises his family one by one. In the second half of the novel the balance of human values is restored as his widow, "the Leddy", initially a mere chattel, emerges as a matriarch of unflagging resource. The obsessions remain, but they are softened and humanized.