Welcome to Sally's book-a-day-for-2017 blog. If unfamiliar with the blog, scroll down.
The Luck Piece (Post 123)
The Luck Piece (2002), is the story of Mary Anne Woods, known as "Colony Polly", the daughter of Annie, a washerwoman, and her deceased husband Ned. Polly and her mother get by in Sydney Town until Annie falls ill. Polly does what she can, but their savings are dwindling. Polly overhears Farrier Hawks and his wife, Cath, discussing her situation and asks Annie for details. She learns her maternal grandparents were "quality" who cut Annie off when she married Ned. Annie shows Polly the luck piece, a necklace her father gave to her mother the day Annie was born. Annie says she will sell the luck piece if they ever get desperate. When their cottage burns down and Annie is taken to the infirmary, Polly, threatened with the poor house, retrieves the luck piece and decides to approach her grandfather for help. Cath talks her husband into helping out with transport. Polly arrives at her mother's old home to discover her grandfather is dead, but Annie's sister has been unable to contact Annie.
The Luck Piece is a variation on the "missing heir" theme, and shows the steps Polly goes through to discover her mother's past. The illustrations remind me rather of work by Edward Ardizzone.
My great grandmother's name was Mary Ann and she was known as Polly. Evidently that was a well-known diminutive. Colony Polly is the second character I named for Mary Ann French. The first was Polly from The Powerful Pickle Problem (Post 7)
The Luck Piece is a variation on the "missing heir" theme, and shows the steps Polly goes through to discover her mother's past. The illustrations remind me rather of work by Edward Ardizzone.
My great grandmother's name was Mary Ann and she was known as Polly. Evidently that was a well-known diminutive. Colony Polly is the second character I named for Mary Ann French. The first was Polly from The Powerful Pickle Problem (Post 7)
About the Blog
Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)
Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)
The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, leave me a message.
I'm certainly enjoying learning about the stories behind the stories here!
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