But. What if she waited until summer. That would give her plenty of time to get Carmen used to the idea, to explain the plan. Carmen wouldn’t have to pay a penny for it—it would be on Kathleen’s dime, all of it. They could go to the village where Bridget had come from; they could find Fiona’s gravestone, maybe Bridget’s too. They could stand inside the church where the O’Connell family would have gone for Midnight Mass. And the next time Natalie had some sort of independent-study project to do—well, she’d really blow them all away with this.
Was it really so insane? There was only one way to find out.
She picked up the phone; she dialed.
Author’s Note
I set So Far Away in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the town in which I live, because it has an abundant history and it felt like the right place for my fictional Irish immigrant to have landed. Bridget’s story, though based in part on the experiences of actual Irish immigrants in the early 1920s, is my own creation. So, too, are the cyberbullying incidents depicted in this book, as well as the responses by school officials and other adults in the community. Cyberbullying, and bullying in general, are problems that I take very seriously, as do school officials in Newburyport and towns across the state, especially since the passage of antibullying legislation in May 2010 by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. My intention in this book was to illustrate the experience of one fictional teenager, not to predict or depict any specific community’s response to such a situation.
Acknowledgments
Somehow I thought the second book would be easier to write than the first. I was wrong, and I thank the following people for helping me see this through from messy first draft to final manuscript. At Weed Literary: Elisabeth Weed and Stephanie Sun, two of the sharpest agents in the business. At Reagan Arthur Books: Reagan Arthur, for her wise editorial eye and her copious amounts of patience; Andrea Walker, for her willingness to read multiple drafts and offer sound advice each time; Sarah Murphy, for being ever reachable, smart, thorough, and upbeat; Marlena Bittner, for having the energy and optimism of a hundred publicists; and the eagle-eyed Jayne Yaffe Kemp. Also thank you to Crystal Patriarche for taking on my books with such enthusiasm.
Outside the publishing world, I thank the incomparable Janis Duffy, formerly of the Massachusetts State Archives, who welcomed me into her workplace more than once, tirelessly answered my questions about genealogical research, and helped me bring my Irish immigrant to life. Justin Patchin of the Cyberbullying Research Center and the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire answered my many, many questions about cyberbullying and proved himself to be infinitely more responsive than any fictional expert in the field. Thomas Bracken, who was certainly not alive in the early 1900s, nonetheless talked to me about the history of Irish step dancing in his native country. Drs. Michele Burns and Michael Pilz answered my medical questions. Dr. Douglas Gross, founding executive director of the University of California Haiti Initiative, talked with me about Haiti. Jay Williamson of the Historical Society of Old Newbury answered my questions about life in Newburyport in the 1920s.
I also found the following books helpful: Life in Newburyport, 1900–1950, by Jean Foley Doyle; When Youth Was Mine, A Memoir of Kerry 1902–1925, by Jeremiah Murphy; The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840–1930, by Margaret Lynch-Brennan; and The Irish: A Photohistory, by Sean Sexton and Christine Kinealy; along with John Lagoulis’s articles in the Daily News of Newburyport.
On the home front: The community of writers I’ve found online and locally who make a solitary pursuit a little less solitary. The lovely ladies of Lucey Drive, Jana Schulson and Karen Mascott, with whom I share carpools, bus stop waits, and running schedules. Iara Santos, for coming back for a summer. Katie Schickel, my localest writer friend. Elaine Cummings, who throws a heck of a book party. The two independent bookstores in my town, the Book Rack and Jabberwocky, whose staffs have welcomed me with open arms. My sister, Shannon Mitchell, who has cheerfully attended more book events than any one person should have to, and who always brings friends. My parents, John and Sara Mitchell, who have taken their appointment as the Vermont publicity arm seriously. My in-laws, the Moores and the Destrampes, for south-of-Boston support. Margaret Dunn and Jennifer Truelove, who are willing partners in research and road trips. My daughters, Adeline, Violet, and Josephine, who keep the clothes hampers full, the house alive, and my ego soundly in check. And my husband, Brian, who has handled my writing of this book the way he does everything: with patience, grace, and an impressive willingness to celebrate the small steps along the way.
About the Author
Meg Mitchell Moore is the author of The Arrivals. She worked for several years as a journalist, and her articles have been published in a wide variety of business and consumer magazines. She received a master’s degree in English literature from New York University. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and their three children.
www.megmitchellmoore.com
Also by Meg Mitchell Moore
The Arrivals
Contents
Welcome
Dedication
So Far Away
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Meg Mitchell Moore
Copyright
Copyright
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2012 by Meg Mitchell Moore
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Reagan Arthur Books / Little, Brown and Company
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First e-book edition: May 2012
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ISBN 978-0-316-20245-9
So Far Away (9780316202466) Page 31