Brigid The Girl from County Clare

The heart-rending tale of Irish immigration in the 1880s Like making lace – she pieced together a new life from a single thread of hope. Counterpart to Gwenna The Welsh Confectioner Prequel to The Costumier’s Gift Eighteen-year-old Brigid faces an unimaginable choice. If she stays in her beloved Ireland, she is another mouth to feed in a land plagued by starvation and poverty. If she leaves, she will never see her family again. But leave she must. Heartbroken, she travels by ship with her cousin Jamie to a new life in Australia. On the journey, Brigid meets a rough-and-ready Scots girl who becomes her best friend, a man who beguiles her, and a fellow Irishwoman who causes no end of trouble. Brigid’s skill as a lacemaker soon attracts attention, but it is her selfless nature that draws people to her. When the burden of choice is forced upon her once again, Brigid must find an inner strength if she is to fulfil her dream. A new start in New Zealand offers hope – until the day she encounters the man who seeks her downfall.