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Back A Family Reunion
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

She planned to emigrate to Boston too, after she’d finished her Inter Cert exam in the summer. She’d made the decision last autumn, when her first love had tossed her casually aside, betraying her in the most cruel way. It had left her heartbroken. Imelda hadn’t told anyone of her plans, but she was sure her parents would agree. She’d be one less mouth to feed, and she could send money home from America. Perhaps when Brigid had to take on all the chores, she would appreciate all the work Imelda had put in. She would not miss her older sister one little bit.

‘Imelda, would you run upstairs and bring me down my glasses, like a good girl. My eyes are tired,’ her mother interrupted her reverie.

‘OK, Mammy,’ Imelda sighed, noting that her mother looked weary. All this work for the Station was wearing her out. When Imelda was a success in Hollywood she would pay a maid to do her mother’s housework, she decided magnanimously, sashaying up the narrow stairs. Golden rays of sunlight slanting in through the landing window dazzled her, casting a warm opaque glow on the wall at the top of the landing. Pretending it was a spotlight and she was an acclaimed designer, ascending to the stage to collect the Oscar for Best Design – presented of course, by her idol, Paul Newman – she bowed and waved to an imaginary audience. For a few brief moments, Imelda’s cares drifted away and she was happy.

*

The house was full to bursting, people crowding into the kitchen and hallway, chatting and laughing. The buzz of anticipation rippled through the throng as the Dunnes’ family, neighbours and friends awaited the arrival of the parish priest and his curate. The priest, Father O’Connor, an affable Kerryman, and Father Foster, the curate, a bitter little man who had never had a parish of his own because of his fondness for the bottle (and a whispered past that had seen him moved from two former parishes), would shortly be arriving in Father O’Connor’s battered old green Ford Anglia. Father O’Connor was a dreadful driver, and the curate always carried a hip flask filled with whiskey so he could take the odd nip to soothe his nerves.