‘No… but Rosaleen once brought me to see a horse race,’ I told them. ‘On Barley Cove strand, in West Cork. They used to do it every year apparently. She went there when she was a girl and so she brought me. Did you go, Mum?’
She nodded. ‘Oh yes, she loved West Cork, it never lost her, that love for it. The place was in her bones, in her heart. When she was exiled – that’s what she called it,’ she explained to Rosie, ‘she would seek out all the West Corky things she could, like goats, or she’d buy eggs that were sent up from Bantry every morning or she would read the stories of Flannery Vickery. He set all his novels in West Cork. Made her feel less homesick.’
Rosie flipped over to float on her back and then Nora did and then I followed, the three of us floating, looking up at the cloudless blue sky.
And then I felt Nora’s hand grab mine and we held on and it didn’t feel awkward or weird. It felt nice. And then I found Rosie’s hand in the water and the three of us joined, like a chain of paper dolls, three generations of Thomas women. A trio of pirate queens. Rosaleen would have been happy to see us like this, I thought, and if she was up there, she would be looking down at us, pleased and proud. We might just be all right, I thought. Everything might just be all right.
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Acknowledgements
Thank you to my wonderful agent Ger Nichol. And to all the amazing team at Aria, especially Jade Craddock, Sue Lamprell, Melanie Price, Nikky Ward and Caroline Ridding.
To all those who swim in the sea at the Forty Foot and all the other bathing places around Ireland. Those with the towels under their arms or in their dressing gowns, the indefatigable, the hardy and the brave, those who bob in the waves in all swells and weathers, thank you for reminding me that adventures can be daily occurrences.
To Sadhbh, my brilliant trailblazing sister.
And as always to my own daily adventure, Ruby.
About Siân O’Gorman
SIN O’GORMAN was born in Ireland, is an RTÉ radio producer and lives in the seaside suburb of Dalkey, Dublin with her daughter, Ruby.
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A Letter from the Author
Hello and thank you so much for reading my book.
I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Working on a new story and letting it and the characters develop is what I love doing more than anything. And many of my own stories feature some events that have actually happened to me, as well as things I would dearly like experience, as well as elements I hope will never happen! Realistic fantasies, in other words.
Seeing and hearing what other people made of it all is the icing on the cake. If you have time, maybe you could write a review or let me know on Twitter. I’d really love to hear your thoughts. You can also head to my website. Just follow the links below
Thank you again!
Sian xxx
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Addictive Fiction
First published in the United Kingdom in 2018 by Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Siân O’Gorman, 2018
Lyrics from Hold Me Now and What’s Another Year are reproduced with very kind permission from the legend that remains Mr Johnny Logan.
The moral right of Siân O’Gorman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (E) 9781786696663
Aria
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5–8 Hardwick Street
London EC1R 4RG
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Together Forever Page 29