Killough woman releases debut novel set in wartime England

Killough woman releases debut novel set in wartime England

16 January 2019

A DEBUT novel written by a 75-year-old Killough woman is set to be one of the most engaging best sellers to have come out of the district. 

The Girl From The Mill, by Chrissie Walsh, is set against the cultural and political upheaval of World War I, in a West Yorkshire town. 

Chrissie, a former vice-principal of St Nicholas’ Primary School in Ardglass, explains that while it is a fictional novel lots of it is based on factual stories her mother told her when she was a little girl growing up in West Yorkshire. 

She said: “The Girl From The Mill is essentially a story that reflects a woman’s struggle of abuse and charts her journey as she stands up against every kind of oppression.

“It is a heart-breaking saga taking place just before World War I begins. Lacey Barraclough works hard in the textile mill, in the drab Yorkshire town of Garsthwaite. She is determined to fight for improvements to the dismal working conditions she and other weavers face. 

“She hadn’t planned on falling in love with the boss’s son, Nathan. Nathan returns her love, but to succeed they must overcome the class divide, as well as persuade their families that their love for each other is real.

“Before Nathan and Lacey can make a life together, World War I breaks out and Nathan enlists to fight. When Nathan heads off to the Front, he takes Lacey’s dreams with him, and she must find a new way to face the future.” 

Chrissie added:“As hard times come to Garsthwaite, the reader may wonder if there is a home for the returning heroes to come back to. And for those men who do make it back from France, the story explores how they try to outrun the horrors they have witnessed.”

Chrissie has lived in Killough since 1976 when she married her late husband, Billy. However, a part of her still remains in Yorkshire.

“Even though I love my life in the little fishing village of Killough, my head is often in Yorkshire,” she admits.

“They say if you are going to write, write about what you know, and that’s what I try to do. I write about ordinary people – they don’t move mountains or make earth-shattering discoveries – what they do is survive in a tough world, dealing with every day hardships.

“The bygone mill towns of West Yorkshire with their towering mill chimneys looming over the drab little houses, the smoke and the smell at odds with the rolling moors that surround them, provide an excellent back for the women I like to write about. 

“When necessity demands it they can be as tough as the moorland’s millstone grit, or as soft and gentle as a breeze wafting over it when it comes to loving and caring for family and friends. 

“Proud, and for the most part unafraid, the women find strength in unity, workmates and neighbours sticking together, even though they sometimes tore the tripe out of each other. 

“I come from a long line of such women. Hard working, strong-willed, and talkative. It’s their stories that The Girl from the Mill. Like Lacey Barraclough, they believed in fairness and equality and the contribution they made to society, no matter how menial, should be considered worthy.  

“Whatever life threw at them, be it a petty annoyance or a family tragedy, these women just got on with it but they never gave up.”

Chrissie says that she writes when she’s not busy being a mother and grandmother.

“Long walks along Coney Island or Tyrella are great for developing plots and characters, and if I’m driving to school to pick-up my grandson or hanging out the washing or working in the garden I’m a bit like a trawl net on a fishing boat catching words, images and feelings. 

“Then, between the hours of 10pm and 2am I tap it all out, spilling words on to the screen and re-jigging them until I’m satisfied I’ve written what I wanted to say.” 

• The The Girl From The Mill is available as a digital read and Amazon POD. It has received five-star ratings from netgalley and Goodreads.