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My thanks to the author for permission to share this extract and to Rachel's Random Resources for my invitation to take part in this blog tour |
‘Rose’s Choice' by Chrissie Bradshaw is set in a small Northumbrian mining community during World War This heart wrenching family saga is told from Rose’s point of view..
The extract below follows a major
falling out, in the middle of the book, between twenty year old Rose and her
father.
From her bedroom window, Rose
watched the first rays of morning lighten the strip of sky that sat above the
neatly lined slate roofs of the rows. Like one of Dad’s palettes, streaks of
navy and indigo merged into cobalt and sapphire. Soon they’d give way to silver
and steel and the house sparrows would start their chirping.
She hadn’t slept, hadn’t even
undressed. An hour ago, she’d nipped to the outside toilet then darted back
indoors to light the fire in the kitchen before making a brew and preparing
Dad’s work bait, a slice of bread and dripping wrapped in paper. The tea was masting
in the teapot, keeping warm by the range for Dad. She’d brought herself a cup upstairs
because she didn’t want to bump into him before work yet she couldn’t let him go
down the pit on an empty stomach.
Had he meant all he said to her,
last night? His words had scalded her heart. He’d been so upset and angry and hadn’t
come home until well after midnight, his footsteps slow and weary as he trod
upstairs. Had he slept? He would be up and leaving for his shift soon.
From the window, in the murky
morning light, she saw the first outlines of miners trudging to work. Whatever
their troubles at home, the cage dropped them underground and they put their
lives to one side. To do their job in the bowels of the earth, pitmen needed
their wits about them and all their senses fully functioning.
Every creak and sound alerted
Rose to what her dad was doing, getting dressed, drinking a mug of strong tea
and then opening the door to go to the pit. Her fingertips touched the hard
barrier of glass as he appeared on the street below. She wanted to reach out as
he merged into the work pool with the others. As he disappeared into a stream
of miners heading towards the big pit wheel, tears ran down her cheeks. Fancy her
dad thinking she had betrayed him. Was there nothing she could do or say to
take that hollow look out of his eyes?
He’d been deceived by her as well
as Mam. At times, she’d hated her mam for forcing this secret on her but never
so much as now. How could you ever think you’d get away with such a plan, Mam? Yes,
she hated her all right but she missed her and loved her too.
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