The Godforsaken Daughter (37 page)

Rose sighed blissfully. “And to think, Paddy, if Ruby’s father hadn’t of died, Jamie and Ruby might never have met. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?”

“Aye, funny enough all right, Rose.”

They strolled across the field.

Ruby with the puppy. Jamie with the flowers.

So much for them to talk about.

So much for them to share.

Dana gave a little bark.

A wondrous silence fell.

As they walked toward the farmhouse.

And a future that was theirs.

Author’s notes

As many as 3,000 people are in witness protection programs in the United Kingdom and Ireland at the present time.

For decades, witnesses threatened during the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland were given sanctuary overseas. They can literally never go home again.

The Atlantis Foundation was begun in London in 1974. Its practices included primal therapy, introduced by psychotherapist Arthur Janov. When Atlantis moved to Burtonport, a village on the coast of Donegal, the local people dubbed the group “the Screamers.” Finding themselves no longer welcome, the commune soon relocated to the nearby island of Innisfree, and thence to Colombia, where a small group of devotees still exists.

Acknowledgments

I wrote
The Godforsaken Daughter
in the course of a year, in three locations: starting in a lovely town in central Mexico, touching down briefly in Lucca, Italy, before finally coming to rest in my beloved Newry, Northern Ireland.

I am truly grateful for the encouragement and support I received from Terry Goodman, senior editor at Amazon Publishing. He gave me such a wonderful reception of the first few chapters that I felt compelled to continue the journey I’d started with my hesitant heroine, Ruby Clare.

To Terry's successor, Tara Parsons, for picking up the book in the final stages and helping me to cover the final furlong.

To Steven Roman and Toisan Craigg for their eagle-eyed copyediting and proofreading.

Finally, David M. Kiely, the Renaissance man, who not only is my husband but a walking compendium of wide-ranging talents: author, cover designer, first-look editor, researcher—as well as a living dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedia, all rolled into one. His guidance and advice continue to be invaluable to me.

Bibliography

Cunningham, Scott.
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
. Woodbury, Michigan: Llewellyn Publications, 2004.

Forward, Susan, and Craig Buck.
Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life
. New York: Bantam Books, 1989.

Kabat-Zinn, Jon.
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindful Meditation for Everyday Life
. New York: Hyperion, 1994.

Lennon, John.
In His Own Write
. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1964.

––––
. A Spaniard in the Works.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965.

Morrigan, Danu.
You’re Not Crazy—It’s Your Mother: Understanding and Healing for Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers
. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2012.

Ono, Yoko.
Grapefruit: A Book of Instruction and Drawings
. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970.

Phoenix, Storm. “Danu: The Great Goddess of the Tuatha De Danann.” The Goddess Tree. November 2010. Accessed December 8, 2014.
http://thegoddesstree.com/GoddessGallery/Danu.html
.

Plath, Sylvia.
The Journals of Sylvia Plath.
New York: Anchor Books, 2000.

Soraya.
Spells & Psychic Powers
. New Lanark, Scotland: Geddes & Grosset, 2001.

Tillery, Gary.
The Cynical Idealist: A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon
. Wheaton, Illinois: Quest Books, 2009.

About the author

Photo © Michael McKenna

Christina McKenna grew up on a farm near the village of Draperstown in Northern Ireland. She attended the Belfast College of Art where she obtained an honors degree in Fine Art and studied postgraduate English at the University of Ulster. In 1986 she left Northern Ireland to teach abroad. She has lived, worked, and painted pictures in Spain, Turkey, Italy, Ecuador, and Mexico.
The Godforsaken Daughter
is the third novel in the Tailorstown series.