Maeve looked wonderful and radiant, and he fervently hoped she’d be happy with Richard. She deserved happiness.
‘Are you ready, Mammy?’ he asked. ‘The man will think you’re not coming and the car’s waiting outside.’
Maeve smiled. Richard wouldn’t be worried about her not turning up. She gave a last look at her bedroom, for from that night it would be just hers no longer. They’d agreed to stay in the Mosses’ flat as it was easier for both of them.
‘I’m ready, son,’ she said, and she held her son’s arm and they walked out together.
Acknowledgements
I am very glad this book is having a second airing because of all the books I originally wrote for my previous publisher, it is this book that has been asked about more than any other. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to help anyone obtain a copy until now, for it was first published in the year 2000 and was out of print for some time. With this new edition, I have the chance to bring the acknowledgements up to date.
I am immensely grateful to Maggie Hanson at Birmingham Library’s Social Science Department, who helped a lot with local history and maps etc. Roy Yeats was then the Harbour Master at Dún Laoghaire and he used his dinner hour to find out the names of the mail boats crossing the Irish Sea at that time. He even found out what they looked like; how many funnels, how much it cost for breakfast on board and so on and even described the pink curtains covering the portholes in the canteen.
My children, and now my grandchildren too, give me immense joy and show me what life is all about and I am always grateful for their support, and sometimes they can be so helpful too. My late mom-in-law, Nancy, was a wonderful lady who I loved very much and she used to work in a draper’s shop before she was married. She knew the price of every article they sold to the last farthing. I half-filled an exercise book with notes one time when she was visiting and I got her talking of times past, so the prices of the clothes I speak of in the latter part of the book are real.
So many people are helpful to me, I find − like my youngest daughter, Tamsin, who came up with the title of this book when I hadn’t a clue, and my long-suffering husband, who puts up with us all so well.
However, the ones I really write the books for are you, my lovely, loyal readers. For if you weren’t out there buying books or loading them on to e-readers or borrowing them from the library, then there would be no point in any of it, so thanks a million to you all.
If you enjoyed this book, why not dip into another one of Anne’s fantastic stories?
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About the Author
Anne Bennett was born in a back-to-back house in the Horsefair district of Birmingham. The daughter of Roman Catholic, Irish immigrants, she grew up in a tight-knit community where she was taught to be proud of her heritage. She considers herself to be an Irish Brummie and feels therefore that she has a foot in both cultures. She has four children and five grandchildren. For many years she taught in schools to the north of Birmingham. An accident put paid to her teaching career and, after moving to North Wales, Anne turned to the other great love of her life and began to write seriously. In 2006, after 16 years in a wheelchair, she miraculously regained her ability to walk. To find out more about Anne and her books, visit her on Facebook, Twitter and her website:
www.annebennett.co.uk
@annebennett20
Also by Anne Bennett
A Little Learning
Walking Back to Happiness
Till the Sun Shines Through
Danny Boy
Daughter of Mine
Mother’s Only Child
To Have and to Hold
A Sister’s Promise
A Daughter’s Secret
A Mother’s Spirit
The Child Left Behind
Keep the Home Fires Burning
Far From Home
If You Were the Only Girl
A Strong Hand to Hold
Love Me Tender
Another Man’s Child
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
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Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
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Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
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New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
http://www.harpercollins.com