Part 1, 1940-1945, Chapter 1 Summary

Finishing reading a romance novel in which the heroine is saved by her man, Violet White, misused by men and putting up with a frustrated husband George and a timid daughter Elizabeth, damns such novelists. Violet has been seeking rationed food and arguing with Elizabeth's teacher, Miss James, about evacuating her class from London, which is being bombed. She is surprised when her former classmate, Eileen O'Connor in Kilgarret, Ireland, agrees to take in Elizabeth. They have long been out of contact. Eileen has many children, including one Elizabeth's age. Eileen's husband Sean agrees to curb his sharply anti-British views. Elizabeth is entrusted to a stranger, Mrs. Moriarty, to get her to Dunlaoghaire, where Sean, Jr., will meet her.

Part 1, 1940-1945, Chapter 1 Analysis

The first chapter introduces the White and O'Connor families. Violet White and and Eileen O'Connor attend...