August 2001

When Peter Sheridan's father died suddenly and unexpectedly, the loss devastated his close-knit family, who swiftly returned to Dublin to ease their mother's grief and give their father a rousing send-off. But it soon became apparent that an awkward situation would have to be resolved. For over 47 years, Peter's father had maintained a relationship - mainly on paper - with another woman, Doris. She first met him in the 1940s and determinedly kept up a correspondence that would span five decades, secretly hoping against hope that eventually Peter's father would be hers. Doris would need to be told about the death of her old friend. The author has written a moving account of his parents' relationship, from their first encounter over a poker game in a Dundalk canteen to their final, happy days together in retirement. But he also tackles the difficult subject of Doris, a shadowy partner in their marriage, and the thorn in the side of his mother. This book is a compelling memoir that deals with themes of everlasting love, family pride and the nature of obsession, and is a powerful follow-up to his highly-acclaimed Dublin memoir, '44'.