The Child Left Behind

The Child Left Behind
Anne Bennett

A moving family drama of one young woman’s fight to survive, to find her long-lost relatives and to find a place to call homeBridgette has been hurt many times in her life. Her early years were blighted by her spoilt brother; her marriage ruined by World War Two. Now her mother is dying. And then comes a deathbed revelation – somewhere Bridgette has another family and a father.Bridgette joins the war effort and shows her courage by aiding a British Agent whose life is in danger. But, as the war draws to a close, Bridgette is still full of questions about her past and is determined to find the answers. So she sets off for Birmingham – not knowing what she will discover, but desperately hoping to find a place where she can finally belong…

The Child Left Behind

Anne Bennett

This book is dedicated to my sister in lawKathy Flanagan, with love and in memoryof my brother Shaun, who tragically diedon 5th March 2009 RIP.

Table of Contents

Cover Page (#u678ffe7b-c8fc-55ed-a6e3-a8b41d56cc1a)

Title Page (#u111dcfb6-59d7-5bfa-af93-030a5a424f7d)

Dedication (#uf6fbbd25-5822-516b-b092-2e3c348101fb)

ONE (#u5159ba38-c5b3-5546-a4ff-a18f3044a349)

TWO (#u9e4f3038-f85a-5739-a85a-37d7189c11e7)

THREE (#udff90d35-ef3a-5dce-a904-b7c49b087369)

FOUR (#ufd2e20c9-c7db-58b4-be2e-dffede6211d6)

FIVE (#ud7a525d9-a460-5f58-9c99-ea1a84bd83d8)

SIX (#ue581f3c0-87eb-5444-81d9-f8b30eabe980)

SEVEN (#u5fe53610-1392-5bc5-99be-b84525b558a1)

EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

EIGHTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

NINETEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-THREE (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTY (#litres_trial_promo)

Author’s notes (#litres_trial_promo)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (#litres_trial_promo)

By the same author (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

ONE (#ulink_9fa690ec-31b1-5796-b428-053d68dfab53)

Finn Sullivan couldn’t understand his family. They had been aware of the rumblings of an unsettled Europe and so why were they surprised when Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914? When the news filtered through to them, via the postman, in their cottage in Donegal, Finn’s eldest brother, Tom, went to Buncrana, their nearest town, and bought a paper so that they could read all about it.

‘England has declared war on Germany because they invaded two other countries,’ he said as the family sat eating their midday meal.

‘Well, if that’s about the strength of it,’ his father, Thomas John, remarked, ‘it’s a wonder that no one can see the irony.’

‘What do you mean?’ Finn’s brother Joe asked.

‘Well, isn’t that what England has done to us?’ Thomas John said. ‘They invaded us, didn’t they? Who rules Ireland now?’