by Anne Bennett
‘He’s right, though,’ Mark said, snuggling Molly closer. ‘When two people love each other deeply they can take anything the world throws at them.’
Molly laughed. ‘Don’t you think the world has thrown enough at me to last me a lifetime?’ she said. ‘I am looking for a smoother ride now.’
‘And you will get it, my darling,’ Mark said.
As their lips met, Molly knew she was the luckiest woman in the world.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book might never have been written if my agent, Judith Murdoch, hadn’t suggested it. At the time, I wasn’t mightily impressed, because she wanted me to write a set of connected novels. It was something I had never done before and wasn’t that keen on doing either. However, the idea grew on me. She was right, thank you, Judith. This book is the first of those novels that concentrate on members of the Sullivan family who lived in a small town in North Donegal called Buncrana, which isn’t that far from Derry, though it is in the Republic of Ireland.
Judith’s idea was to take each member of that family and tell their story, and you must have heard it said that everyone has a story inside them? I began with the offspring of Nuala, who was married, the mother of two children and living in Erdington, Birmingham, when this book opens.
There was a terrific amount of research to be done to access the information needed to sustain four books that will span many years. First and foremost I had to visit Buncrana and not once but many times. I had informed Buncrana Library that I was coming and why and they had lots of books ready and waiting for me to read of the history of the area, with maps and photographs that I could copy. Letterkenny Library too was able to help with maps and information, as it is the County Library, and I am indebted to all at both libraries for their support and help.
The railway and station in Buncrana is long gone, fallen way to ‘progress’ like many others, but the old station has been made into a pub. They have retained the ticket office and waiting room, which they showed me, and then took me outside to show me where the platform would have been, so I was able to look over the golf course Molly would have seen and Rathmullen on the other side of Lough Swilley. At the Derry Railway Museum we saw the trains used at the time and Donegal Railway Museum provided the fare rates and timetables.
I bought books to aid research too, Donegal in Old Photographs by Sean Beattie and Irish Men and Women in the Second World War by Richard Doherty, which I did find to be very good.
Best of all though, was going around Buncrana, which is a bustling, thriving place, and drinking in the atmosphere of it and talking to people. In this way, I learned why the Catholic Church is so far from town, in an area called Cockhill. There is a magnificent church built in the town now though and yet people, being people, continue to use the one in Cockhill, I was told. You seem to be able to stop any Irish people in the street and they know the history of the place they live in and are quite willing to share it. Two men, out for a stroll, were able to tell us that the massive structure in Swan Park on the banks of Lough Swilley was built in Napoleonic times to guard against French invaders. I knew about the soldiers that were deployed there in the Second World War to guard Ireland’s neutrality. The men knew too, of course, and said the camp had been further round but there was nothing left of it now, so we didn’t bother going to look.
It was easier to gather information about Erdington as I lived in Pype Hayes, which is not far from it, when I was growing up and went to the Abbey School. I also lived in Sutton Coldfield for some years after my marriage and I know Sutton Park very well. Yet I still found Sutton Coldfield in the Forties by John Bassett very helpful and I am grateful to Optima for producing so many photographs of old Birmingham that I downloaded from the internet. I also used two of Carl Chinn’s books, Our Brum, in which he brings old Birmingham to life and Birmingham at War, which helped me write an accurate timeline of events and told harrowing tales of the terrifying raids and the effects on people’s lives.
My family are extremely supportive of me and so thanks must go to my children, grandchildren and my lovely husband, Denis, the most important one of all. A special thanks too must go to Judith Kendall, who is a dear and close friend, Judith Evans at the airport whom I will always be grateful to and Peter Hawtin, who listened to her. Hello, Peter.
There is a tremendous team that backs me and helps the manuscript I submit become a book and they are: my great agent, Judith Murdoch, my marvellous editor, Susan Opie, and Becky Fincham, my lovely and intrepid publicist. She is leaving soon for pastures new. I wish you all the very best, Becky, but I will miss you enormously. Heartfelt thanks to you all.
Lastly, but by no means least, I thank you, the magnificent readers, who buy and read the books, for without you there would be no point to any of this. And though a special thanks must go to those who write, or e-mail, or leave a message on my website, saying how much they like my work, I appreciate and am grateful to you all and I hope you thoroughly enjoyed A Sister’s Promise.
A SISTER’S PROMISE
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 four 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.
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By the same author
A Little Learning
Love Me Tender
A Strong Hand to Hold
Pack Up Your Troubles
Walking Back to Happiness
Till the Sun Shines Through
Danny Boy
Daughter of Mine
Mother’s Only Child
To Have and to Hold
Copyright
Harper
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Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2007
Copyright © Anne Bennett 2007
Anne Bennett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for 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.
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ePub edition June 2008 ISBN-9780007279678
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