Against a backdrop of the blistering heat and grinding poverty of the chain shops of the Black Country, this compelling love story charts the struggle of young Anna Gibson to forge a new life from the remnants of betrayal by her lover and a tragic marriage of convenience.
How do we recover from the agony of a lover's betrayal?
What is true love anyway?
Can we befriend lawbreakers without getting hurt?
These questions are at the core of this unusual and compelling love story. Written with humour, colour and passion, and layered with rich historical detail, Helen Spring weaves an absorbing tale of obsession and complex emotions, and their far-reaching consequences.
Excerpt
'Oh, Clancy, dear...' Anna caught his arm as they reached the canal. The loat was already there, and one or two passengers were climbing aboard. The bargeman, recognising Anna, gave her a cheery wave and indicated that she should hurry.
'Clancy, I'm sorry, I have to go...'
'Yes, I just wondered if...what you thought about it.'
Clancy took Anna's arm as she clambered aboard and then walked along the towpath to talk to her as she settled herself at the rear of the barge. He leaned towards her. 'Ye didn't say Anna, ye didn't say...' he entreated in a loud whisper.
'What?' her face was stricken.
The bargeman took the tiller and the canal boat began to move away. Clancy walked alongside, eyes locked with Anna's. 'Are ye coming darlin'? To America? Are ye coming with me?'
She did not answer. The boat drew away and she mouthed, 'I'll see you next week.'
Clancy raised his hand in acknowledgment and watched the barge recede slowly. Then he turned away and walked back along the canal path. it was only when he reached the main road that he realised he had not asked Anna to marry him.
Tralee, Ireland. September 1948.
An arrogant, and highly agitated, priest arrives home after 40 years.
Days later he's dead. Suicide? Or did his past catch up with him?
Shanghai Escapist grabs the faint-of-heart right from the get-go and serves up an ultimatum: What would you do if caught in the same circumstances? From the opening scene, the reader is tossed into the maze of daily intrigue as it existed in 1960s-70
