The Starspun Web
Page 25
Mrs. Jones left the room and locked the door behind her. The air settled, dust motes trickling to earth through a random sunbeam. Everything was still.
And the Oscillometer hissed its unheard message out into an empty room, over and over again, before finally falling silent.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Ireland’s official neutrality during the Second World War (1939–45) was a complex thing, partly born of its then-fraught relationship with Great Britain and partly born of its desire to assert independence as a country, among many other reasons. My own grandmother often spoke to me of her experiences during what was called the Emergency, mentioning things like rationing and shortages, and the constant fear of invasion.
Despite Ireland’s neutral position, it did offer unofficial aid to the Allies. Richard Hayes was a prominent Irish code-breaker who worked alongside MI5 during the war, for instance, and back-channel communications were always present between Ireland and Britain. Also, many thousands of Irishmen served with the British army in both world wars, often at great personal cost; coming home from battle sometimes meant being branded a traitor for the rest of your life.
In 1941, Ireland was under the leadership of Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Éamon de Valera and President Douglas Hyde. The president lived in Phoenix Park, close to Thomas’s fictional home, and his official residence (Áras an Uachtaráin) suffered bomb damage on the night described at the end of the book. So, while Ireland didn’t suffer the privations of countries like Britain during this dark time in history, it’s not beyond possibility that children like Thomas did lie awake at night, wondering whether the next bomb to fall would land on their city.
The bombing at the end of the book was a real event, though I have taken some liberties with how it happened for the sake of my story. Early in the morning of May 31, 1941, the Luftwaffe (German air force) dropped four bombs on Dublin city. Three did minimal damage; the fourth landed in the North Strand area, killing twenty-eight people, injuring ninety, and making more than four hundred homeless. It was the worst single attack on Irish soil during the war.
Not mentioned in The Starspun Web are the efforts by the Irish army to shine spotlights on the attacking planes and to shoot them down; these efforts, carried out with badly maintained equipment, proved futile. It’s still not completely clear why the attack was carried out on Dublin—perhaps the planes were lost and needed to drop ballast in order to make it back to German lines; perhaps it was a revenge attack, as Dublin had recently come to Belfast’s aid when that city was hit in the Blitz. It may have been an attempt on Hitler’s part to force neutral Ireland into the war, as Ireland was strategically useful to both sides. Perhaps the reason will never be known.
And in such gaps, stories grow…
This book is, in part, my humble memorial to the men and women of the North Strand, including my husband’s grandmother, who luckily survived the attack. It is my attempt to pay homage to all who lived through the Emergency and the war, and particularly to those who lost their lives fighting the terrible evil of Nazism. Ní bheidh a leithéidí arís ann—“their like will never be seen again.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wrote (and rewrote, and rewrote) The Starspun Web mostly while standing at my kitchen counter, fitting in fifty or a hundred words here and there around my daughter’s frenetic, colorful, enthusiastic little-girl life. So, it is to her that I owe the greatest thanks and the sincerest apology—the thanks for her patience with “busy Mammy” and the apology for all those times when “I’ll be with you in a minute, love!” turned into much longer than that. Thank you, little star. I hope, one day, you’ll be as proud of me as I am of you.
My husband, as has become his habit, made every possible effort and sacrifice to help this book along, and all without complaint. Thank you, Bucket. I’m so glad to have you in my fan club.
Working with editors as astute as Katie Jennings, Melanie Nolan and Karen Greenberg is a privilege. To them, I offer my most heartfelt thanks for helping me to hew this book out of the word sludge that was my original submission, and for reminding me of what I do best at exactly the right moment. Thanks also to the marketing, publicity and design team at Stripes Publishing, especially the wondrous Leilah Skelton and Lauren Ace, and to Susila Baybars for her detailed copyedit.
The immensely talented Sara Mulvanny and Sophie Bransby created a cover for this book that has gone beyond my hopes. Thank you both for the care and time you took to give this story such a beautiful wrapping, and particularly over the depiction of Ackerbee’s (which, if you’re ever in Dublin, is based on the real-life Lafayette Building on the corner of O’Connell Bridge).
Since my first book, The Eye of the North, was published, I have had the great joy of befriending and getting to know hundreds of teachers, bloggers, librarians, other authors and—most importantly—readers. I couldn’t possibly name them all, but there are a few individuals I must mention. To Scott Evans, curator of the #PrimarySchoolBookClub, I owe a huge debt of gratitude; it was a singular honor to be named the club’s first Book of the Month for March 2018. Thank you, Mr. E, for all you do! Thanks, too, to every teacher, TA and librarian I’ve chatted or interacted with on Twitter, email or my blog—your efforts to promote reading for pleasure among your pupils are hugely appreciated by me, and by all of us who try our best to create stories worthy of our readers.
Thanks to Lucy Fidler, of Layton Primary School in Blackpool. I am proud to be the Patron of Reading for this wonderful school, and I owe that honor to Miss Fidler. I’m also proud to have been in touch with Kinross Primary School as their Author Pen Pal over the past school year—thank you all! Remember: Always Be Curious, and never stop reading.
For their invaluable support and general cheerleading, I also wish to thank: Steph Ellis (@eenalol), Steph Warren (@bookshineblog), Amy (@GoldenBooksGirl), Jessikah (@JessikahHope), Faye (@FayeReads), Victoria Dilly and the Book Activist (@bookactivist1), Aimee (@aimee_louise_l), Jo at My Attic Library (@myatticlibrary), Jo Clarke (@bookloverJo), Gordon Askew (@GordonAskew), Library Girl and Book Boy (@BookSuperhero2), Laura and Faith (@272BookFaith), Ashley Booth (@MrBoothY6) and everyone at Children’s Books Ireland (if you’re not already a member, do consider joining—childrensbooksireland.ie—and tell them I sent you!).
One of the best parts of becoming an author is getting to know other authors. Only they really know the challenges, frustrations and tiny triumphs involved in this strange old life, and among the people I’ve been most pleased to befriend over the past year or so are my old muckers Vashti Hardy, Juliette Forrest, H. S. Norup and Elizabeth and Katharine Corr (respectively, the authors of Brightstorm, Twister, The Missing Barbegazi and the Witch’s Kiss trilogy). Everyone I’ve ever met in the world of children’s publishing has been a person of the very highest caliber, and it’s a wonderful feeling to be a small part of that amazing bookish family. Thank you all.
A huge thank-you to every child I’ve had the joy of meeting over the past year, and to the teachers and librarians who facilitated our workshops. Nothing gives me greater joy than to see a group of story finders with their heads bent over their worksheets, drawing or writing something that has been sparked by a suggestion from me. It’s a privilege to be welcomed into your imaginations, and I’m grateful for it.
To my family and my family-in-law, I send my love and gratitude, particularly to my wonderful parents, Tom and Doreen. This book was partly dreamed up while listening to my mother-in-law and her sister talk about their mother’s experiences during the North Strand bombing, and so to them I owe a massive thank-you. I hope this story would have done Mary proud. My extended family has been a stalwart source of support and encouragement right from the start—thank you all. My friends, who turned up in droves for the launch of The Eye of the North and who have always believed in me—I don’t have words to tell you how much you mean to me.
Darlin’ Hugo: thanks for be
ing you.
To Polly Nolan, agent beyond compare: go raibh míle maith agat—“you’re some woman for one woman.”
And final thanks, as always, go to you, the reader, who has stuck with me through two whole books (so far). Getting to know you has been the greatest joy of all.
SINÉAD O’HART lives in County Sligo, in the wild northwest of Ireland, known as “Yeats Country” because of its influence on the great poet. She has been many things, including a butcher’s assistant, a travel adviser, a writing instructor, an English tutor, a bookseller, and a proofreader, but the only thing she has ever really wanted to be is a reader and a writer. She has a PhD in Old and Middle English language and literature, which is a useful source of story material.
What’s next on
your reading list?
Discover your next
great read!
Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.
Sign up now.