The Shattered Curling Stone - Hardcover

by David S. Florig (Author), Cheryl Bernard (Foreword by)

Set in late-1800's Scotland, The Shattered Curling Stone tells the story of young Ailsa Maclaren, who takes to the ice to learn to curl under the tutelage of her father. Unfortunately, women and girls weren't supposed to curl in Victorian Scotland. It was something that men did. A sport that men played. "The manly Scottish exercise," they called it. Nevertheless, she persisted, despite the loud and oft-repeated objections of the mouthy John Carswell, who wasn't keen on women curling.

The Shattered Curling Stone is a work of historical fiction. Some of the places and characters are, or were, real. Others are products of the author's imagination. The story follows Ailsa from twelve-year-old beginner, to the first (fictional) women's bonspiel, to the Scottish Ladies Championship, to the World Championship in Canada. Along the way, she meets the charming and very, very handsome Lucas Plotcok. And therein lies the real tale.

Woven seamlessly into the story are actual historical accounts of some of the pioneering women who dared to play The Roarin' Game and who overcame obstacles and blazed a trail for others in doing so.

The Shattered Curling Stone is David Florig's second novel, following The Stones of Ailsa Craig, which was named Best Historical Fiction of 2023 by Indies Today. It contains a Foreword by two-time Olympic curling Cheryl Bernard, as well as an Afterword which outlines some of the rich, true history of women in curling.