A Voyage Around My Mother: Surviving shelling, shipwrecks and family storms
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Eleanor Stewart had always had a difficult relationship with her mother, but when her mother's persistent ill-health, caused by Parkinson's Disease, meant she needed a new home, Eleanor offered her one. 'It will only be for six months' she assured her husband - but it wasn't. It was for ten years. And, initially, those years were hard. Her mother, Mary, had very little interest in Eleanor's life, or even in her two grandchildren. So if a bridge was to be built between the two women, Eleanor would have to build it - and find the necessary solid ground to do so. She found it by exploring her mother's past with her. Mary had had a fascinating life, which included being shelled during the Second World War, shipwrecked and a passionate affair while sailing to India. As Mary Stewart reveals more and more of her past, Eleanor discovers a woman she has never really known, and the two forge a strong relationship that was not possible before.
An amazing story of a hidden untold past and the adventures of a difficult mother.
Contents
Acknowledgments 9
Author’s Note 10
Prologue 11
1 Portsmouth: Mother’s Arrival (1993) 13
2 Govan (1920s) via Buffalo (1930) to Dunoon (1932) 18
3 Dunoon: Love and Sad ness (1936) 24
4 T he Compa ny, May & Baker (1937) 30
5 M &B and “the Wonder Drug” (1938) 37
6 Gathering Clouds and War (1938–39) 44
7 M arriag e, August 1940 49
8 T he Depa rture, February 1941 57
9 T he Ship, 16 March 1941 62
10 S hip Life, March 1941 67
11 S hip Life Continues, 23 March 74
12 Attac k, 25 March 77
13 T he Boat, Day 1, 25 March 85
14 T he Boat, Day 2, 26 March 92
15 T he Boat, Day 3, 27 March 97
16 R escue, Day 4, 28 March 101
17 SS Raranga, 29 March 109
18 M ontevideo, 10 April 1941 115
19 Buenos Aires: The Mysterious Monsieur Gué, 15 April 125
20 Flight: A Cheerful New Zealander with a Novel Way of Paying Her Air Fare, 24 April 131
21 L os Angeles: Unpleasantness with Immigration, 3 May 1941 136
22 A Chance Encounter with the “Great Dictator” and the “Dook”, 5 May 141
23 T he Angelus Temple: An Odd Experience, 6 May 145
24 S an Francisco: Bag els and “Twittering”, 8 May 149
25 Another Ship, Another Ocean, 9 May 154
26 K ing Neptune’s Court and Trag ic News, 17 May 163
27 Arrival in Kobe: America n Unease and the Sinking of the Bismarck, 25–27 May 167
28 S tolen Chopsticks and Love Games, 28 May 172
29 H ong Kong: “Land of the Frag rant Streams”, 1 June 1941 183
30 Jai Alai and a Medica l Emergency, 4 June 190
31 R affles and a Not-So-Sweet Parting, 11 June 199
32 T emples and Snakes, 16 June 208
33 Colombo: The End in Sight, 19 June 216
34 Bomba y: Stopover, 24 June 224
35 Calcutta: Safely Arrived, 27 June 230
Epilogue 236
Acknowledgments
Product Details
- Title : A Voyage Round My Mother: Surviving Shelling, Shipwrecks and Family Storms
- Author: Stewart, Eleanor
- Publisher: Lion Books
- Publication Date: 2016
- ISBN: 9780745968841