The Corner House (60 page)

The girls cried again, laughed, told tales of two mothers and two fathers. The awkwardness was over. Now, they talked more clearly, more easily. For them, this was a beginning, a first time, a starting point.

The wise house settled itself down for the night, unspoken knowledge etched into brick, layered into plaster. There was no beginning, no end, not for the Corner House. It sat at the junction where it had existed for almost forty years, continuing its vigil, listening, learning.

The children of Theresa Nolan talked until dawn, packing the moments with their own history, their own dreams. The house dozed. Soon, it would be morning.

Many, many thanks to the following:

Diane Pearson, my dear editor, who waited endlessly for this book while I went through a difficult year.

David and Michael Thornber, my two sons. Without them, recent months would have been impossible to bear.

Elizabeth Warmisham, who wrestled with my computer and my incompetence.

Ted Openshaw, whose knowledge of Bolton’s fishmarket was so valuable.

Sandra Heilberg and all the staff at Sweetens Books, Bolton.

Josephine Walker (researcher); David Rhodes of Yates Jewellers; also the staff at Whittle’s Jewellers, all of Preston, Lancashire.

Eileen Weir (researcher) of Crosby, Merseyside.

Ruth Hamilton was born in Bolton and has spent most of her life in Lancashire. Her novels,
A Whisper to the Living, With Love From Ma Maguire, Nest of Sorrows, Billy London’s Girls, Spinning Jenny, The September Starlings, A Crooked Mile, Paradise Lane, The Bells of Scotland Road, The Dream Sellers, The Corner House, Miss Honoria West, Mulligan’s Yard
and
Saturday’s Child
are all published by Corgi Books and she is a national bestseller. She has written a sixpart television series and over forty children’s programmes for independent television. Ruth Hamilton now lives in Liverpool with her family.

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