The year is 1900, and as the old century ends and Queen Victoria's reign draws to a close, the past is catching up with Henry and Phoebe Hayburn. Dark secrets continue to haunt them, as they begin to plan for the future of the family business – the Clydeside shipyard that has been the foundation of the family's prosperity throughout the Victorian era. Henry Hayburn wants his son, Robin, to follow in his footsteps and take over the running of the shipyard but Robin is a determined young man who has other ideas. He wants to be a writer, and the conflicting ambitions of father and son seem destined to end in tragedy... The fifth in Guy McCrone's classic series of Glasgow novels, The Hayburn Family is the dramatic conclusion to the epic story which began with the Wax Fruit trilogy.