My snip this Sunday is from one of my earlier Books We Love books, Remnants of Dreams. This book will always hold a special place in my heart for is based loosely on my mother’s life. She passed her strength and resilience on to all her five daughters and five sons.
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Remnants of Dreams moves through the
horrors of WW1 and WW11 to the 1990s, and paints a picture of a changing world
and of working class people in North London whose only riches are love and the
knowledge that they did their best.
Alicia’s indomitable
spirit sustains her and her large family through war, illness, death and loss.
From her mother’s example Sara finds the courage to escape an intolerable
situation and forge a new life in a new country.
Previously published as Traces of Dreams this book won
the Romance Writers of Australia's mainstream Romantic Book of The Year in 2003.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If you think this is a
predictable novel you will miss not only a sweeping story of joy and sorrow,
triumph and tragedy, but also an amazing overview of the century seen through a
family saga. Tricia McGill takes a bold step into mainstream fiction with this
book that flows like a gentle stream on the surface, but conceals a strong
undercurrent and unexpected depths." Mary Allyce
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes in the dead of night,
while Fiona and Arty slept, Alicia stared sleeplessly at the ceiling, wondering
why Mathew hadn't made a move to touch her. Perhaps she was reading far too
much into his visits. He was probably more interested in her pies and cakes
than in her.
She began to have the oddest
yearnings. What would it feel like to have his strong arms around her? He had a
mobile mouth and expressive eyes, and she had a strong desire to feel that
mouth on hers, to experience a man's kisses again. She often flushed with shame
at her wayward thoughts and wondered secretly if she'd inherited some of her
mother's wantonness. No, she'd simply been without the attentions of a man for
too long, that was it.
Fiona was seeing her young man
regularly, and Alicia wondered if her sister was beset by the same wanton urges
when Fiona admitted quite openly, "I wish Jimmy would propose to me. He
says he loves me and there's no other girl for him, but he hasn't popped the
question yet."
Alicia could only hope Jimmy
wouldn't take advantage of Fiona's blatant adoration. She tried to tell her
sister to dampen her enthusiasm, but Fiona was too wrapped up in her romantic
notions. She wasn't in the market for cautionary lectures.
The heat was oppressive towards
the end of July and Alicia began to feel frazzled as August came in on hot
winds. Then one day in mid-August it was cooler than it had been for weeks.
Alicia felt quite light-headed as she made her way home from the factory with
her daily batch of sewing.
"Days like this me and your
dad would go to the park and feed the ducks," she told Arty, who gripped
her hand.
"Did you take stale bread,
Mum?" he asked, grinning up at her.
"Mm," she agreed, her
heart lurching. When he smiled he was a replica of his father. Memories flooded
back, so clear she could almost see Arthur walking there with them, alive and
handsome, his face lit with that same endearing smile. She sighed. "Wish
I'd brought the old pram," she said when a twinge shot up her arm.
"This bag's heavy."
Alicia let go of his hand and put
the bag down so she could massage her cramped fingers. Arty skipped ahead,
laughing, as she called out, "Come back here, you little blighter."
As she bent to retrieve the bag a
shadow fell across the pavement. Alicia began to smile, thinking it was Mathew.
But the smell that assailed her wasn't his, and she stifled a scream as a hand
reached out to suddenly take the bag from her fingers.
Please take a moment to hop on over to these blogs for more great snippets:
http://mizging.blogspot.com (Ginger
Simpson)
http://authorjamiehill.blogspot.com/ (Jamie
Hill)
http://romancingscifi.blogspot.com/ (Vijaya
Schartz)
http://connievines.blogspot.com.au/ Connie
Vines
http://yesterrdayrevisitedhere.blogspot.com/ Juliet Waldron
Visit my web page for information on all my other books. |
Enticing Snip Tricia! Shared.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Jamie.
DeleteI agree. I couldn't find a place to comment on Jamie's must her's is a 'must read' for me, too.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add that I also shared on FB, Google, Pinterest and TWitter. I may not always leave a glowing comment, but I definitely believe in our group, and I thank you for being part of it.
ReplyDeleteI love being part of this group, Ginger, and thanks to you for keeping it going and for sharing every week.
DeleteTricia, I am a great fan of historical romance. I will be reading this story soon,
ReplyDelete