Letters from a Patchwork Quilt

Literature & Fiction

synopsis

Synopsis

"A story of love, loss and tragedy; a heartbreaking and moving tale." Readers’ Favorite. From the author of A Greater World and Kurinji Flowers In 1875 a young man, Jack Brennan, from a large and impoverished Catholic family, refuses to be pushed into the priesthood and runs away to become a teacher. Jack falls in love with Eliza Hewlett, but his dreams and plans are thwarted when his landlord's daughter, Mary Ellen MacBride, falsely accuses him of fathering the child she is expecting. Rather than be forced to marry his accuser, Jack decides to run away to America with Eliza. Just as they are about to sail Jack is arrested and dragged from the ship, leaving Eliza alone en route to New York with just a few shillings in her pocket. ˃˃˃ 5 Star rated by Readers' Favorite "The story is different, original and touching. It's interesting to read how the lives of Jack and Eliza unfold in different countries. The plot is powerful, the characters are well sketched, memorable, and their personalities will remain in the minds of readers even after they finish the story. It's a story of love, loss and tragedy; a heartbreaking and moving tale where readers will wish to see Jack and Eliza reunited and happy together. The narration is descriptive; it also speaks about the society that existed during that age and pulls readers into the story. It's well written and the story is not predictable, making it a engaging read."

bio

Author Biography

Clare Flynn writes historical fiction with compelling characters.and a strong sense of time and place. Her books often deal with characters who are displaced - forced out of their comfortable lives and familiar surroundings. She is a graduate of Manchester University where she read English Language and Literature. After a career in international marketing, working on brands from nappies to tinned tuna and living in Paris, Milan, Brussels and Sydney, she ran her own consulting business for 15 years and now lives in Eastbourne where she writes full-time – and can look out of her window and see the sea. When not writing and reading, Clare loves to paint with watercolours and grabs any available opportunity to travel - sometimes under the guise of research.

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Author Insight

The Battle of the Bottle

Letters from a Patchwork Quilt is partly set in Middlesbrough during the 1880s. In the mid 19th century the town was effectively akin to a wild west town, its explosive industrial growth attracting thousands of workers so that it became a place "wherein are gathered together the vilest of the vile” according to the then local newspaper. Drinking dens grew up beside the docks to serve the workers in the iron foundries. Alongside them brothels also did a roaring trade. By the time of Letters from a Patchwork Quilt, 1880, when my main character, Jack Brennan became the landlord of the Tudor Crown, the Temperance movement was having a major impact in the town. The numerous drinking establishments still provided a huge draw to the working men of the iron foundries, but now the growing ranks of the Temperance Society sought to make access to drink harder.

Book Excerpt

Letters from a Patchwork Quilt

One evening as he was getting ready to open up the pub, she and Marian entered the bar, carrying the silk Temperance banners they had been occupied in embroidering for the past six months. Mother and daughter were cloaked and bonneted and ready to set out on their nightly mission to protest outside the taverns of the town.

‘Get that stuff out of my bar,’ Jack snapped. ‘You can take your protests elsewhere.’

‘We are committed to visiting every public house in Middlesbrough. Why should this one be an exception?’ said Marian

He was polishing glasses behind the bar and slammed one down so hard that it smashed into pieces. He cursed and sucked at the blood that had started to pool on one of his fingers.

‘It’s drink that puts the food on your table. It’s drink that pays for the clothes on your backs.’

‘I married you when you were a teacher,’ Mary Ellen said. ‘I didn’t marry a publican. You can always be a teacher again. I’m ashamed every time I see the priest or carry this banner. My own husband is shaming the family and the church by encouraging people to drink.’

‘I don’t encourage anyone to drink. It’s still a free country as far as I know. If people choose to forget about their miserable lives by paying for a bit of comfort then who am I to stand in their way?’

‘If this place were closed they couldn’t drink here,’ she said.

‘If this place were closed they’d cross the street and drink in the White Horse.’