Say I am Merry – Gay Crace
ISBN: 9781788649827
£10.99
Fleeing London at the outbreak of the Second World War, Merry and her siblings are taken far from home, leaving their father behind and cutting them off from the both the ‘real’ world and contact with other children. Peace takes them back to their life in London until the children grow and go their separate ways. And for Merry married life brings romance and daughters, but her husband’s illness also brings mounting financial pressures. Isolated from the excitement of Sixties London, anxious about money, Merry becomes increasingly aware of the religious, social and cultural family differences that run through generations of her family, silently accepted but constantly exerting their stresses.
A fictional pot-pourri in prose and poetry, Say I am Merry explores love and loss and the way the stories of one generation are handed to the next. A poignant, ambitious and compelling debut.
Author biography
Gay Crace was born in London in 1936. When war broke out her mother took her young family to stay with friends in the country, first one place, then another, turning their settled family life upside down. Their return to London after VE day saw the beginning of a steady education for the first time.
After leaving university, she worked at Chambers’s Encyclopaedia. This was followed by marriage and a break from full-time employment while raising her family. When her children were older, she joined the teaching staff of The Purcell School, a specialist music school, where she continued to work for many years.
Later, she trained as an analytical psychotherapist, growing a private practice and taking part in the training of others. Since retiring she has given attention to her writing, starting with poetry and short stories. Poems have been published by Indigo Dreams Press and Cinnamon Press. Say I am Merry is her debut novel.