The Journey
About this book
Christmas, huge quantities of snow and an isolated farmhouse without running water, electricity or toilets provides the backdrop to the annual family holiday where members of the Norris family get together from all over the world; on this occasion however, one of the sons won’t be going home.Following the loss of her son, Mary goes into a depression and abandons her family leaving Tommy to carry out the Mother’s tasks and run the home. As family life spirals downwards, William Norris, with the help of his sons, plots, to reunite the family before there are tragic consequences.Meet masochistic teachers and strange characters such as Brigit, whose knowledge and love of fairies is unsettling, and Jocklin, an aging recluse, who is intent on getting Tommy alone to show him something...In affairs of the heart, a sneak peek in a diary leads to the discovery of betrayal which will never be forgotten.READ AN EXCERPT TITLED "The Mating Ritual"The Boat House in Capperqulnn was a popular venue on a Sunday night. The main attraction being, it was only five miles from home and you could walk it in about an hour. Like most boat houses it was built on the river but this wasn’t for storing or repairing boats, it was a dance hall. Once the pubs were closed it got packed by every Tom, Dick and Mary who didn’t want to go home early or were after a romantic interlude to conclude their weekend. The building was considered for years to be unsafe, not because you could stagger outside for a piss in the dark and end up having a swim, but merely because the building had moved every year and it was liable to crash into the water whenever it felt like it. It was a sobering thought as you stood and watched the girl’s line up on their side of the hall waiting for a dance.The informal rules to an establishment such as this were quite simple; at least you thought they • Rule 1: The band would play three slow songs and then three fast ones throughout the night. These were called sets;• Rule 2: The men stood on one side of the hall ogling the girls whilst the girls sat on the other side doing their knitting. (The last bit isn't entirely true)• Rule 3: During an interlude between dance sets the big men – mostly drunk - would stampede across the floor – trampling the smaller ones to death - and ask their prospects to dance. If she was agreeable – she put aside her darning needle and sock – and accompanied the gentleman to the dance floor;• Rule 4: Dancing couples disengaged partners after one set – three songs - and then returned to their side of the hall to wilfully slander their recent dancing partner.Now the agenda for the lads was always the same. As you stood on your side of the hall with your friends, you constantly studied form and exchanged views and opinions about the quality of merchandise on display. Normally the selection was well varied with ladies of all shapes and sizes awaiting your dancing pleasure. The one slight drawback however, was that most of the cheerful looking ladies were pig-ugly, smelt a bit odd and couldn’t dance to save their lives. That didn’t really matter much though, because the majority of the gentlemen were pissed, hadn’t touched soap for months and couldn’t dance either. If by some miracle you managed to see something across the hall that was remotely fanciable – it was probably a defective light bulb. If it wasn’t, you then tried to put yourself in a position on the floor so that you might get to her first, after the band announced,“Next dance - pleaseeee.