The Woman Outside the Walls: A completely gripping WW2 historical novel about a heartbreaking secret by Suzanne Goldring

Author:Suzanne Goldring [Goldring, Suzanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781803143958
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2022-10-17T16:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-TWO

LONDON, FEBRUARY 2017

Why did I do that, Anna thinks, holding the two halves of the postcard. Freddie meant well. He wasn’t to know that he pricked my conscience with this picture and his questions.

She knows that Lauren noticed the card in the bin. Hopes that she will not say anything to Freddie. As soon as Lauren had gone, she’d retrieved the stained card, wiped it carefully and tried to stick it back together with Sellotape. The sticky film wrinkled across that sweet, optimistic photo, taken in a carefree moment when Anne couldn’t have had the slightest notion of the fate that would befall her and most of her family and friends.

He will think I am ungrateful if he finds out, Anna tells herself, shaking her head. He will tell his mother I am an irritable, unkind old woman. But I replied to his questions, didn’t I? Not extensively, it’s true, but I answered honestly. We didn’t know in the beginning and it wasn’t our fault.

She props the card against the canister marked Tea and considers it as she unfolds her ironing board. Maybe the steam iron will soothe her mind, even though she cannot smooth out the creases on the card, nor completely wipe away the stains. She sprays starch onto the embroidered tray cloth she likes to use when serving her cakes. She presses the back of the embroidery first, as Mama once taught her, then turns it over and presses the front, nudging the nose of the iron around the shape of the stitched flowers. She sewed this cloth and others like it when her children were young and she had an hour or so to herself while they were in school. Mama would be proud of her for maintaining her standards of housekeeping.

A double sheet is next, which Lauren helped her to fold when she brought in her washing from the line in the garden. She can still manage to peg out her sheets, but they are too big for her to fold correctly on her own. Reg helped her once he’d retired, but never seemed to quite get the hang of matching the corners. Susan and Peter used to fold too, but were always impatient to rush away to see their friends, do their homework and in the end leave home for good. If she’d been more lenient, would they have stayed? Probably not, she thinks, as the iron steams and presses the slightly damp linen.

She knows only the top edge of the sheet will show, but she can’t help herself; she has to iron the whole thing, section by section. Smoothing out the tiny creases left by the wash and the breeze, it feels as if she is ironing out her life, removing its problems and putting all in order.

Anna is surprised that neither Lauren nor Freddie have ever asked her again why she was away from the house so long, when they found her at the bus stop. And they’ve never asked her what was in her little case.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.