The Girl from Ballymor

The Girl from Ballymor
Kathleen McGurl

What would you sacrifice for your children?Ballymor, Ireland, 1847As famine grips the country Kitty McCarthy is left widowed and alone. Fighting to keep her two remaining children alive against all odds, Kitty must decide how far she will go to save her family.Present dayArriving in Ballymor, Maria is researching her ancestor, Victorian artist Michael McCarthy – and his beloved mother, the mysterious Kitty who disappeared without a trace.Running from her future, it’s not only answers about the past that Maria hopes to find in Ireland. As her search brings her closer to the truth about Kitty’s fate, Maria must make the biggest decision of her life.

Also available from KATHLEEN McGURL

The Emerald Comb

The Pearl Locket

The Daughters of Red Hill Hall

KATHLEEN MCGURL lives near the sea in Bournemouth, UK, with her husband and elderly tabby cat. She has two sons who are now grown-up and have left home. She began her writing career creating short stories, and sold dozens to women’s magazines in the UK and Australia. Then she got sidetracked onto family history research – which led eventually to writing novels with genealogy themes. She has always been fascinated by the past, and the ways in which the past can influence the present, and enjoys exploring these links in her novels.

When not writing or working at her full-time job in IT, she likes to go out running or swimming, both of which she does rather slowly. She is definitely quicker at writing, even though the cat tries to disrupt the writing process by insisting on sharing Kathleen’s lap with the laptop.

You can find out more at her website:

http://kathleenmcgurl.com (http://kathleenmcgurl.com)/, or follow her on Twitter: @KathMcGurl

For my sons, Fionn and Connor McGurl

Contents

Cover (#u38c869ce-7a49-58ef-9f66-a9082efb6276)

Also by Kathleen McGurl (#u8eb2abb6-a3ae-590c-9c6f-dbc7566b8e40)

Title Page (#u2d989d52-a830-59d7-9db9-ddbbda91cc13)

About the Author (#u3df7510d-45ce-58e4-85ec-7c1c2e5d970b)

Dedication (#u821992b5-eaab-5e19-a085-b04b551af703)

CHAPTER 1: Maria, present day (#ulink_b0da0c88-3ab4-588d-8e96-0eb631c6b492)

CHAPTER 2: Kitty, 1848 (#ulink_480b03ad-62c1-56af-b72c-815461f09ebf)

CHAPTER 3: Maria (#ulink_de2d4067-789a-5b41-a825-611c5751f012)

CHAPTER 4: Kitty (#ulink_f2ea441d-c800-51db-8dad-dd17bce4000a)

CHAPTER 5: Maria (#ulink_7d5980ad-3c4a-5d5c-95ea-546c84bbf4e2)

CHAPTER 6: Kitty (#ulink_11a83980-4cfc-52fa-9210-5f01e8e51461)

CHAPTER 7: Maria (#ulink_46c184e3-f3c1-5c66-a086-165e2b6bb108)

CHAPTER 8: Kitty (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 9: Maria (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 10: Kitty (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 11: Maria (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 12: Kitty (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 13: Maria (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 14: Kitty (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 15: Maria (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 16: Kitty (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 17: Maria (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 18: Kitty (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 19: Maria (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 20: Kitty (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 21: Maria (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 22: Michael 1849–1860 (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 23: Maria (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 24: Michael (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 25: Maria (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 26: Kitty, 1849 (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 27: Maria (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 28: Michael (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 29: Maria (#litres_trial_promo)

AUTHOR’S NOTE (#litres_trial_promo)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 1 (#ulink_a97533f5-4fdb-5803-a7c5-026a6da5efa1)