Fourteen months after I published A Song for Somme, I have published it’s sequel, though the drafting of this project all began sixteen months ago. While I had originally told myself that I really didn’t want to write another book, let alone a sequel, I knew that this story had to be told. With the encouragement of friends and family, I get to introduce to all of you: St Ives Memory.
The setting of this book takes place twenty years after the first book, A Song for Somme, and is told through the eyes of Rose Fox, Lloyd’s daughter. I would like to add, though, that I wrote this book in a way that even if you hadn’t read the first book, you would still be able to read St Ives Memory and know exactly what is taking place within the storylines and amongst the characters.
Disclaimer: I still recommend that you read A Song for Somme first. It will definitely add more depth to this story.
This was the toughest of all three books to write. Even though it required less research than A Song for Somme and less drafts than Unkempt Secrets from The War, the content about the human condition is like nothing I have written before. Piggy backing off of A Song for Somme, which was heavily influenced by Lewis’ apologetics works, specifically The Problem of Pain, I chose to explore these themes through a new generation, still reaping the emotional and psychological damage of World War II. Because of the difficult themes explored, this book required the most time to write. Ironically, St Ives Memory is the shortest of all three books.
Just like my other books, writing this book brought a sense of healing into my own life+made me better understand the journey of brokenness in family relationships, as well as the beautiful truth that no matter how broken things may be, reconciliation is possible. My hope, in writing this book, is that someone can read this book and find God in their own story.
There is so much that I could say about this book, but I want you to read it for yourself. As Rose states, “But, supposed, I was to accept this fact of life, that there would always be more questions than answers, and that some questions would never be answered during our time here on earth” and as we journey along through all of the unknown, “without even looking, life changes us.”
So, without further adieu, here is the prelude to St Ives Memory.
Prelude:
My name is Rose Fox, at least that is what I believed for most of my childhood. I am sure my papa told me his secret through one of his musical compositions, but I never heard it in his music, just as I never heard my mother’s laugh after the age of fourteen.
My mother, she was imprisoned by her own pain, by her own grief that believed that no one else had suffered as she had. And, so now you must understand that my quest to find my birth father was not for my own sake, as much as it was for her. Perhaps, it is the height of the war, that is why my father finally told me the truth. If it was done to protect me, I am unsure, but I am finally no longer in the dark. I never understood why people keep secrets, but that might be what makes us human.
When I first began this journey to unearth what had long been buried, I didn’t know where it would lead. I never expected to find that the first secret was only connected to many others. And, that if it hadn’t been for art, the memory of people’s lives and the truth to my own childhood would have been lost forever.
My birth name is Rose Atwood and this is my story to ensure history that truth should never be altered, no matter the cost.
Cheers, until next time, friends! St Ives Memory can now be found on Amazon.
JM Books Co. 