On Broken Wings

About the Book

In this book we find the sisters, Jane and Theresa, (whose life in Ireland is portrayed in 'Judas in Kilkenny') having fled the shame of a dysfunctional family, far away from their home in Ireland. The story covers the years spent in England and in Canada, up to the time Jane dies and Theresa is stricken with cancer.

On arrival in England the two girls are separated when Theresa takes a job as governess in the small town of Ilford. These opening chapters introduce the characters of Millicent, Nelly and Archie, around whom the story of her first year there revolves.

An attempted rape by her employer returns Theresa to Brighton where the two girls meet again and Theresa learns of Jane's intended marriage. Her impression of the larger town is glowing. But 'all that glitters is not gold' she soon discovers when exposed to the barriers of class, and the unexpected drama of an attempted suicide. Unable to find suitable employment, she is forced to accept work in a factory where she meets and, eventually marries, her husband Keith.

With no hope of advancement in Brighton, Theresa and Keith set sail for Montreal where a whole new world is opened up to them. Despite the separation of an ocean the girls remain close, as Jane appears and reappears throughout the story.

A true story of one girl's struggle and triumph. Of the good times and the bad. The sadness and despair, as each character's profile is revealed in the succession of events that surround it.

Praise for Judas in Kilkenny: "Limerick has its Frank McCourt, Dublin has its Peter Sheridan, and now Kilkenny has Theresa Lennon Blunt."

About the Author

Theresa Lennon Blunt was born in Kilkenny in 1931. At 21 she left for Brighton, England where she met and married her husband Keith Blunt. In 1957 she immigrated to Canada, where she now resides.

On Broken Wings is her third book.

Other Trafford titles available by this author include: The Boodyman