The Linen Queen Author:Patricia Falvey Abandoned by her father and neglected by her self-centered unstable mother, Sheila McGee can't wait to escape the drudgery of her mill village life in Northern Ireland. Beautiful and quick-witted, she wins the 1941 Linen Queen competition, and the prize money that goes with it finally gives her the opportunity she's been dreaming of. However, b... more »efore she has a chance to escape, the Belfast blitz brings World War II to her doorstep, and her earlier resolve is eroded by her ma's fear of being alone.
It's no surprise, therefore, that Sheila views the occupying American troops as saviors - one of them may be her ticket out. Despite objections from her childhood friend, Gavin O'Rourke, she sets her sights on an attractive American army officer named Joel Solomon, but her plans are interrupted by the arrival of Grainne Malloy, a street-wise young evacuee from Belfast.
Caught between her lifelong dream and her changing priorities, Sheila feels pulled apart by the affections of the two men in her life - Gavin who represents the past she is trying to leave behind, and Joel who embodies the exotic future she dreams of. Sheila watches as her formerly divided countrymen unite, bonded together in a common purpose to fight the Germans. As the war moves steadily closer to those she has grown to love, Sheila confronts more abandonment and loss, and finds true strength, compassion, and meaning for her life outside of herself.« less