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Description edit
An unforgettable story of two women linked by their roles in a tragedy at the end of the Victorian era.
When Anna, the young woman she cared for as a child, announces her intention to visit the elderly Maddie, Maddie recognises her last chance to unburden herself of a story that has... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Characters/People edit
- Harriet: The child's (Charlotte's) mother, accused of the killing, and the first of the main narrators of the book.
- Anna: Harriet's grand-daughter to whom Maddie (the former nanny) tells the story.
- Charlotte: The young girl who died in the house.
- Miss Julia: Harriet's sister.
- Alphie: Peig's (the housekeeper's) husband.
- Maddie: Maid servant in the house at the time of the child's death who then became nanny to Florence, Anna's mother. Seventy years on she is resident of Oranmore Nursing Home and teller of the tale to Anna. The second of the main narrators.
- Madge: One of the servants in the house at the time of the child's (Charlotte's) death.
- Feeley: Servant in the house at the time of the child's death.
- Morris: One of the children of the house.
- Harriet: The mother accused of the child's (Charlotte's) murder.
- Bella: Maddie's friend.
- Owen: Anna's husband's father.
- Conor: Anna's husband.
- Mr Crankshaft: Harriet's lawyer.
- Gabriel: One of the children of the house.
- Susan: One of the servants.
- Mammy: Maddie's mother.
- Harry: The eldest child of the house.
- Charlie: Maddie's estranged brother.
- Peter: The gardener.
- Greta: Conor's wife.
- Mrs Walsh: One of Harriet's defenders.
- William: One of the children of the house.
- Dr Creith: The family doctor.
- Molly: A friend of Peig's.
- Paudie: One of the servants of the house.
- Denny: A friend of Alphie's.
- Mr Campbell: A neighbour of Harriet's from their house in Scotland.
- Lady Bucknell: A neighbour of Harriet's at her new home in Ireland.
- James: One of the children of the house.
- Edward: Harriet's supportive husband.
Quotes edit
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“Some ghosts are so quiet you would hardly know they were there.”
- Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
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My whole life spent in the way of myself: working in my own shade, not able to crawl out from underneath it, obliterating with my own being what I have been striving so hard to try to achieve.
Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers -
Children see more than adults. As grown men and women we are too engrossed in what we say to one another, in what the next move is; we are not enough in the present.
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
The novel is set in Portstewart on the North Coast of Ireland in the home of the aristocratic Ormond family.
- Charlotte
- Dublin
- Ireland
- Oranmore
- Florence
- London
- Scotland
- Derry
- Coleraine
- Victoria Terrace
- Castlerock
First Sentence edit
Dear Nanny Madd, I am thinking about you today. Do you remember, nine years past, when Conor and I took you out? July 1959, a day of sparkle and glitter. We went for a dip and left you on a wooden bench on the Cliff Walk, with the sun on your face and the light dancing off the water at Port-na-Happle. The crags all shadow, and the sea loud around the rocks and a jet plane, like a white threaded needle sewing its way, straight as old Miss Greenan used to teach us, across a washed-out sky. And then, do you remember, Nanny Madd, what we did?
Authors & Contributors edit
- Bernie McGill (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Headline Review
Country: UK
Publication Date: August 2010
ISBN: 9780755370689
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Headline Review
Country: UK
Publication Date: August 2010
ISBN: 9780755370689
Page Count: 312
Subjects edit
Links to Supplemental Material edit
- Simon and Schuster's Author page: Q & A with author and exclusive blog page.
- Bernie McGill's website: Author's home page and blog.
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