Elsa opens her eyes.
Acknowledgements
MY SINCERE THANKS to Christine Dwyer Hickey for all her support and advice; to Anne Enright and Declan Hughes for their encouragement. To Sara Hollwey, Sarah-Jane Scaife and Rose Henderson for their responses to early drafts. To my editor Leslie Hodgkins at Bellevue Literary Press for his commitment to this novel. Thanks also to Erika Goldman, Kent D. Wolf at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin, Molly Mikolowski at A Literary Light, Joe Gannon at Mulberry Tree Press, to copy-editor Carol Edwards and to Ailish McKenna from Bray & Krais Solicitors. My thanks to John Killen and Ita McGirr from the Linen Hall Library, Belfast. To Belinda McKeon, Bert Wright and Vanessa O’Loughlin for all their help. To Jack French for his digital wisdom. To fellow travellers and treasured friends Hilary Fannin and Maureen White. Thanks to Ebony, Robert, North, Winter, Persia, Daniel, Amelié and Michele Campbell. To Nicky for the Vaio. To Ernie, Mary, Roma, Errol and Lisa for all their love and for sharing the journey. To Owen, Megan and Ethan, for your constant faith in me, thank you. And to Eleanor—missing you still.
I have taken liberties with the geography of the Lagan Embankment and the layout of Groomsport Bay in order to facilitate the fictional journeys taken by the characters in this novel. Also the National Fire Service ceremony that was held to honor those members of the fire service who had helped in raising money for the rebuilding of the Ulster Hospital for Women & Children took place in 1947, whereas I have cited it for the purposes of the narrative in 1949, by which time the National Fire Service had been disbanded. My thanks to my father for chat and information about all things fire-related: all errors of fact and emphasis are my responsibility.
First Published in the United States in 2013 by
Bellevue Literary Press, New York
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Bellevue Literary Press
NYU School of Medicine
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New York, NY 10016
Copyright © 2013 by Michèle Forbes
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.
Ghost Moth is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, incidents and places are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Forbes, Michèle.
Ghost moth / Michèle Forbes.
pages cm
1. Man-woman relationships—Fiction. 2. Belfast (Northern
Ireland)—Fiction. 3. Political fiction. I. Title.
PS3606.O694G58 2013
813’.6--dc23
2012046163
Bellevue Literary Press would like to thank all its generous donors—individuals and foundations—for their support.
eISBN : 978-1-934-13761-1
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