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Back A Family Reunion Save as PDF
Chapters (66)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. PART ONE
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. CHAPTER TWO
  8. CHAPTER THREE
  9. CHAPTER FOUR
  10. CHAPTER FIVE
  11. CHAPTER SIX
  12. CHAPTER SEVEN
  13. CHAPTER EIGHT
  14. CHAPTER NINE
  15. CHAPTER TEN
  16. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  17. CHAPTER TWELVE
  18. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  19. PART TWO
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  39. PART THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  64. EPILOGUE
  65. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  66. About the Author

The parish priest of Ardcloch had taken Lorna Murphy to a Magdalene laundry in Limerick and she’d escaped after having her baby, and drowned herself in the Shannon, because the nuns had taken the child from her and sold it to an American couple. Mrs Murphy had let out a blood-curdling scream that half the village had heard when the priest had come to tell them the news. ‘Murderer!’ she’d shouted. The poor woman never got over her daughter’s suicide.

And Imelda knew this! Wasn’t she fearful for Keelin’s future? Her own daughter?

And what of Larry? Brigid would have expected more of him. Keelin was the apple of his eye. But then he was so henpecked he did everything he was told, Brigid mused, closing the door to her book-lined office in the convent in Limerick.

Brigid couldn’t help the pangs of guilt that assailed her. If she hadn’t written to Keelin about her life on the Missions, her niece might never have joined the Order. Imelda had been furious with her. But Imelda was always furious with someone, Brigid thought crossly, picking up the phone to ring the housekeeper in the Four Winds to tell her to prepare a room for Keelin, and to say she’d be staying a few days herself. The Four Winds was never too busy in December and January, so Brigid was quite sure there’d be beds for them.

It would be nice to spend a few days by the sea in that homely old house, she thought, flicking through the Rolodex on her desk to find the number. Keelin had said that she loved the priest who got her pregnant. But did he love her and would he stand by her? With all her heart she hoped so, but she had her doubts. Being a single mother in a judgemental society was a hard path to tread, as Keelin was already discovering, and there but for the Grace of God was a path Brigid had once thought she would walk herself.

Thinking about the baby she’d lost all those years ago brought a lump to Brigid’s throat. Taking care of the babies in Senegal had helped heal the gaping wound that her miscarriage had caused. But here in the convent in Limerick there were no children, no babies to hold and cuddle and she missed that part of her life more than words could say. She was going to be a great-aunt in more ways than one, she reminded herself. Keelin’s baby couldn’t come at a better time in Brigid’s life.

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