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‘A sumptuous, superbly immersive epic: witty, with gutsy, beautifully drawn characters’
– Adele Parks MBE

The first novel in Guy McCrone’s beloved Wax Fruit Trilogy, chronicling the rise – and trials – of the Moorhouse family in Victorian Glasgow.

Glasgow: the second city of the Empire. A booming metropolis where fortunes are made, reputations forged, and
ambition knows no bounds. Into this world steps Arthur Moorhouse, a determined young man who has risen from modest beginnings in rural Ayrshire to establish a thriving merchant business and a name for his family.

But success comes at a cost. As the Moorhouses climb the social ladder, they face fierce rivalries, internal tensions, and the ever-watchful eyes of Glasgow’s elite. When tragedy strikes, Arthur and his spirited new wife, Bel, take in his orphaned halfsister, Phoebe – a bold and determined young woman whose arrival will alter the family’s destiny.

Set against the backdrop of a city in transformation, Antimacassar City is a sweeping tale of ambition, loyalty, and the price of progress. As the Moorhouses rise, so too do the stakes – because the higher you climb, the harder the fall.

‘Wax Fruit recaptures the atmosphere of the period most effectively’ – The Herald

‘Very fine indeed’ – Glasgow Evening Citizen