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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

A care-worn woman carrying a squalling baby and a holding a lively toddler by the hand came in and Imelda felt a kinship as she swallowed hard and managed a small smile before leaving to rejoin her mother.

She knew Larry wouldn’t mind that she was pregnant. He loved their children and had endless patience with them, far more than she had. She was lucky in that regard, she supposed. She had a good husband who provided well for the family, and who helped her out as much as he could with the children, and their elderly parents.

He had taught her to drive after Keelin was born, and bought her a car because he felt she needed to be independent. Being able to drive had balanced, somewhat, the overwhelming sense of being trapped when she’d held her baby daughter for the first time and realized, with a sinking heart, that here was another responsibility, another demand on her, pushing her dreams of living her own life, unchained by the needs of others, away for ever.

Imelda sighed. She’d felt so unlike most other women of her age, who seemed to adore their babies. She must be unnatural, she thought, because had she and Larry been childless, it wouldn’t have upset her in the slightest.

Learning to drive had been a double-edged sword. Very few women in the townland had cars of their own and she was plagued to give lifts to all and sundry. She’d to bring her mother-in-law to a dental appointment tomorrow morning, and Peter to an eye clinic for a follow-up appointment after his surgery to correct his squint. She was practically living in hospitals these days. Imelda frowned, sitting back down beside her mother. And then she remembered she’d promised her mother she would help write her grandmother’s memorial cards today, as well.

Granny Dunne had died in the autumn and Elizabeth wanted to have everything done properly so that people wouldn’t be talking about how long it took to get the headstone for the grave, and to send the memorial cards.

Granny’s passing had freed her up a little, Imelda admitted. But it had been a hard year, with her mother’s bronchitis, Granny Dunne’s last illness, and her father’s fall from the tractor and subsequent back surgery, which left him limping and crotchety.