From the bestselling author of Stranger in the Place and Summer of the Hawthorn, this is the story of a young girl growing up in 1950s Ireland. After the death of her parents, Clare soon develops a special bond with her grandfather.
From that point on the boundary fence the land fell sharply away into one of Cook’s fields and a gap had been left in the planting of trees and shrubs so that the view of the distant mountains should never be masked.She stood gazing out across the green countryside, the Bann flooded into the adjo...
The trees dripped heavily on the pavements, though the rain itself had stopped. Oppressed by the aqueous gloom which surrounded her, she switched on the red-shaded lamps that Ronnie had made out of old wine bottles. They glowed dimly and made no impression at all upon the room itself. In the even...
To everyone’s surprise, the days themselves flew faster than ever. All three Hamiltons were overcome with such mixed feelings of sadness at leaving Ashley Park and delight at the thought of being home again.For Hannah, the feelings were particularly painful. Since the visit of the Altrinchams, sh...
When she’d taken her place at the end of the long pew where her sister and her brothers were already seated, her hands were so numb she’d dropped the printed service sheet left ready in her place.Now she was grateful for the soft, black wool shawl Rose had lent her. She’d wanted to wear ‘Granda’s...
‘You can go out and play with the others now you’ve had your sleep,’ she added, giving Sarah a quick hug.Entering the room swiftly, she heard an irregular rasping noise. She’d never heard a death rattle, but it had been spoken of enough times these last ten years past for her to fear the worst.‘S...
Thanks to the young conductor on the tram, they’d succeeded in reaching the city centre and they’d done all the jobs they’d planned. For Ellie, there’d been little joy in doing them. As she and Ruth matched up ribbon and buttons and discussed yokes and collars, all she could think of were those g...
When he wasn’t making the longest of the delivery runs from the jam factory near Richhill, where he now worked, driving to Belfast, or Larne, Newry or Drogheda, or even Dublin itself, he was servicing the firm’s road vehicles and maintaining the steam engines that provided the factory’s power sup...