Letters From a Patchwork Quilt
Page 32
It took Meredith longer to locate the last resting place of Jack Brennan. After weeks of often frustrating research she flew to England and took a train up to Liverpool and then a taxi to Walton. Jack had been interred in a pauper’s grave in a disused cemetery close to where the poorhouse had been in Liverpool. She felt terribly sad to discover that the poet was buried in an unmarked, communal grave with other destitute people. When he had been shovelled in there, the poor chap would have had no idea that he was on the brink of becoming published. He would have never known that the woman he loved would read his poems on the other side of the ocean.
The old parochial cemetery was now the home to a city farm. Here, in the middle of the urban sprawl of Liverpool, it was a green oasis, with goats, sheep and pigs – a popular place for families to visit. Meredith liked the idea of Jack being in this woodland setting, surrounded by playing children and grazing animals. It was better than the usual serried ranks of ugly gravestones in most modern cemeteries.
There was nothing to indicate the spot where Jack’s body lay. The former graveyard housed ancient tombstones from the 1700s and some graves of servicemen killed in the first world war. Most of the old cemetery was overgrown and wild – open stretches of grass under which were many unmarked communal graves. Meredith looked around and chose a quiet spot under the shelter of a tree. She opened her bag and took out a trowel and dug a hole in the ground; into it she placed a wooden box containing Eliza’s letters and the newspaper photograph of Eliza Feigenbaum.
Meredith sat on the grass and read a few lines from one of Jack’s poems from Poems from the Fireside.
Those joyful days are now long gone
When you and I, not two, but one,
Danced in the dying August sun.
She laid the poetry book on top of the box of letters and covered them with the turf. ‘Rest in peace, Jack Brennan,’ she said.
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With thanks to Jo Ryan, Anne Caborn, Clare O'Brien, Susanna Sewell and Anne-Marie Flynn, my band of brilliant beta readers. Your advice and input was truly helpful and generous.
To my wonderful editor, Debi Alper, who, quite simply, rocks.
Thanks to David Chidgey, Martin Levy and their Facebook friends for their cricketing advice. I hope I did justice to the roundarm technique Martin described.
To all my Facebook friends for your advice on covers – and to Jane Dixon-Smith for designing it.
To all my readers. Thank you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Clare Flynn is the author of A Greater World, set in Australia in 1920 and Kurinji Flowers, set in India in the 1930s and 40s. She is a graduate of Manchester University where she read English Language and Literature.
After a career in international marketing, working on brands from nappies to tinned tuna and living in Paris, Milan, Brussels and Sydney, she ran her own consulting business for 15 years and now lives in West London.
When not writing and reading, Clare loves to splash about with watercolours and grabs any available opportunity to travel - sometimes under the flimsy excuse that it's research.
Get in touch with Clare
Website http://www.clareflynn.co.uk
Twitter - https://twitter.com/clarefly
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/authorclareflynn
Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Clare-Flynn/e/B008O4T2LC/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6486156.Clare_Flynn
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/clarefly/my-new-work-in-progress/
If you enjoyed reading Letters From a Patchwork Quilt please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Reviews are really vital to authors and help more people discover the books. Thank you!
To get your FREE story sign up for Clare's newsletter here or use the QR code below. You will be the first to know about new book releases, special offers and freebies. And you can unsubscribe any time.
ALSO BY CLARE FLYNN
A Greater World
When Elizabeth Morton’s father asks her to travel across the world to marry a stranger, she thinks he’s crazy. This is 1920 and a woman has rights - she's not going to be subject to an arranged marriage. But she's reckoned without her brother-in-law, who brutally shatters her comfortable world, leaving her no choice but to sail to Australia
When Michael Winterbourne, a lead miner, wakes up with a hangover after his engagement celebrations, he has no idea he is about to cause a terrible tragedy that will change his life and destroy his family
When Michael and Elizabeth meet on the SS Historic, bound for Sydney, they are reluctant emigrants from England. They hope their troubles are over, but they're only just beginning
A Greater World is set in the early 1920s, and moves from the dales of Cumberland and the docks of Liverpool to Sydney and the beautiful Blue Mountains.
A Greater World is a B.R.A.G Medallion Honoree and is Ascribe Approved.
Also by Clare Flynn
KURINJI FLOWERS
It is 1936. Ginny Dunbar, an 18-year-old debutante, has been exploited for years by a charismatic, older man and is under the thumb of a well-meaning but bossy mother. When she is caught up in a scandal, her marriage prospects are ruined - until a new start in India offers another chance to find love and happiness.
But Ginny’s own inner demons, her new husband’s expectations, the shallow, lifestyle of the expatriate British community and her mother in law’s bullying conspire to turn her dreams of happiness sour.
When Ginny meets Jagadish Mistry, she’s forced to question her own prejudices about India and its people. But then the outbreak of war changes everything.
Set in the beautiful tea growing uplands of South India during World War II and during the struggle for independence, Kurinji Flowers traces a young woman’s journey through loss, loneliness, hope, and betrayal to unexpected love and self-discovery.
Kurinji Flowers is a B.R.A.G Medallion Honoree. Buy on Amazon
PRAISE FOR KURINJI FLOWERS
"A sweeping, lush story – the depiction of India in all its colours, smells and vibrancy is pitch-perfect in its depiction. You will be grabbed from the first chapter" The Historical Novel Society
"You would enjoy Kurinji Flowers if you are drawn – as I am – to stories of individual human relationships." The Review Group
"A beautiful story of betrayal, love, sacrifice and redemption all framed by the gorgeous countryside of India. " Amazon reviewer
"KurinjiFlowers is a lovely, joyful, heartbreaking novel. Oh, how I wished this story could go on and on!" Amazon reviewer
"This is a brilliant book, Clare Flynn has recreated the atmosphere of pre-, and post-, war London and India really well - it is as if you are actually remembering it, instead of reading about it." Amazon reviewer
Table of Contents
1 Escape Derby, England, 1875
2 Virginia Lodge
3 Entangled
4 Act of Contrition
5 An Object Lesson
6 Reading Lessons
7 Christmas in Bristol
8 The Parish Picnic
9 The Choir
10 Mary Ellen’s Predicament
11 Embarkation
12 Cast Adrift
14 Castle Garden
15 Five Points
16 Attacked
17 Recovery
18 Searching for Work
19 To Middlesbrough
20 Employment
21 A Child is Born
22 Motherhood
23 Journey to St Louis
24 Letter from America
25 Tea with Helga Strauss
26 Christmas In St Louis
27 The Confessional
28 The Decision
29 Birth of an Empire
30 Gertrude Logan
31 Friendship
32 Temperance
33 The Seduction
34 Repercussions
35 The Cricket Match
3
6 The Dormitory
37 The Condemned Man
38 Ticket to America
39 The End of the Road