A Strong Hand to Hold
Page 42
‘They did,’ Jenny agreed. ‘And Max was right about being his Uncle Werner’s heir. The man told me himself on the phone. Really, he said, there’s no one else left. But it does mean Linda will be set up for life if she marries him. She looked at Peter and said, ‘D’you think Linda will make it?’
‘What, as the wife of Max, or as a singer?’
‘Well – both, I suppose,’ Jenny said and her heart gave a lurch as there was an enormous blast from the hooter and the smoke billowed out more fiercely – black against the pearly grey sky. Slowly she watched as the huge ship pulled away and she fingered the mizpah on her own neck and said a prayer for a safe journey and a good life for the two young people aboard.
‘I don’t know whether it will work out for them or not,’ Peter said eventually. ‘Only time will tell. What I do know is, she had to try for this audition or she’d have wondered about it all her life, and as for Max,’ he shrugged, ‘let’s face it Jenny, they’re made for each other.’ Jenny nodded, agreeing with him, and he gave her shoulder a squeeze and said, ‘Let’s go home and break the news.’
‘Not yet,’ Jenny said. She had her eyes fixed on the two young people on the ship and she waved and shouted with all the rest, and not until the ship was far away on the horizon did she turn and say, ‘OK.’
Peter saw she was tearful and to cheer her up he said, ‘I meant exactly what I said about getting married soon. It’ll probably upset everyone, but I don’t see why these things have to be planned a year in advance.’
‘You know what people will think if we have such a hasty marriage?’ Jenny teased provocatively, a smile on her face.
‘Will you mind that?’
‘I won’t give a damn,’ Jenny said firmly.
‘Good girl,’ Peter said. ‘And, we just might just take our honeymoon in New York. Go over and see how Linda and Max are, and have a look at the set-up for ourselves.’
‘Oh Peter,’ Jenny cried. She threw her arms around him and gave him a long, lingering and very ardent kiss.
Acknowledgements
This is the third book that I wrote for Headline and was first published in 1999. I am often asked how I get inspiration for my books and sometimes have to truthfully say that I don’t know. In this case, however, I do know what started the thread that led on to a story. After seven years in a back-to-back house our family were moved under the post-war slum clearance programme to a sprawling council estate, Pype Hayes, because my father worked at the nearby Fort Dunlop. On that estate, almost opposite our house, was one house standing on its own, and since detached houses were not a usual feature of council estates, this house fascinated me. Much later when I was married and living elsewhere and actually teaching at the local school, they began to move people out of the area, intending to bulldoze the whole estate as the foundations were faulty and the houses were starting to sink. Reminiscence sessions were held at Erdington Library led by local historian and broadcaster, Carl Chin, and these were compiled into a book, a copy of which I received on request from the library. And there it all was, people’s memories telling the story of the history of the estate I grew up in from the age of seven.
The house that so interested me was part of a terrace of six and the other five had been razed to the ground in the raid of 19th November 1940 when 350 bombers pounded virtually every part of Birmingham for over ten hours. When I was asked some years later to set my books before, during or just after World War II, I remembered this house and thought about all the times I had wondered what had happened to the residents of the other houses, and a story was born. I enjoyed writing the book a great deal, but there is one part that took me some time. I suffer from claustrophobia and I live experiences with my characters, so when Jenny had to crawl and inch her way forward in a very enclosed space I regularly had to stop writing because I couldn’t breathe. However, I survived to tell the tale.
I am delighted that the book is being re-issued. I’m thrilled with the new cover and so pleased I was able to have the opportunity to have the book back to re-edit before its release, so thanks to the team at HarperCollins for this and particular thanks to my editor, Kate Bradley. When I originally wrote ‘A Strong Hand To Hold’, the internet was in its infancy and we didn’t have any sort of access. That changed some time ago and made it so much easier to check and sometimes change details, but the story is the same and I hope that anyone reading it enjoys it. Please let me know if you do.
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.
Visit www.annebennett.co.uk to find out more about Anne and her books.
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Meg and her friend Joy sign up for the Land Army and go to work on the farm where she meets Stephen, home on leave after fighting the Nazi’s – the attraction is instant and she and Stephen fall in love. But when she returns to the family home for a visit, she is horrified to discover the house in squalor and that worst of all, Little Ruth has been sent to an orphanage. With no options, Meg must turn to the only man who can help her, Richard Flatterly, but in return for his help, she must pay a very high price …
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Copyright
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
www.harpercollins.co.uk
This edition published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2014
Copyright © Anne Bennett 1999
First published in paperback in 1999 by HEADLINE BOOK PUBLISHING
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014
Cover photographs © Gordon Crabb/Alison Eldred (woman); Doreen Kilfeatner/Trevillion Images (girl); Mary Evans Picture Library (houses); Shutterstock.com (airplanes, hand)
Anne Bennett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007547760
Ebook Edition © July 2014 ISBN: 9780007547777
Version: 2014-05-28
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