City Girl (48 page)

On a crystal clear Mediterranean day, Briony McAllister sits playing with her four-year-old daughter, Katie, while she waits for her mother, Valerie, to join them. Valerie
has recently moved to a picturesque town in southern Spain to finally leave behind her turbulent past and find a peace that has always eluded her. Briony has no idea that in a few
moments’ time her relationship with her mother will change irrevocably.

As Katie plays, Briony pulls from her bag an old photo album, found in a box in her mother’s new home. As she begins to study the faded photos, a letter falls to the
ground. It is addressed to her.

My Darling Briony, it begins. As Briony reads the words with mounting shock, realisation dawns. Her mother lied to her about what happened with her beloved grandmother
Tessa all those years ago – and denied Briony that most precious of relationships, the type of relationship Valerie now enjoys with Katie.

The lives of three generations of women are set to change forever as the past is revisited and the truth unfolds through the undelivered letters Tessa wrote to Briony over
the years. Secrets, lies, betrayals and sacrifices – the complex bonds between mothers, daughters and granddaughters are intricately explored as Patricia Scanlan takes us into the
hearts and homes of a family at war.