The Unraveling Of Maria By F J Curlew paperback published 7th November 2020
Maria’s history is a lie. Washed up on the shores of Sweden in 1944, with no memory, she was forced to create her own. 43 years later she still has no idea of who she really is.
Jaak flights for Estonia’s independence refusing to accept the death of his fiancé Maarja, whose ship was sunk as she fled across the Baltic Sea to escape the Soviet invasion.
Angie knows exactly who she is . A drug addict, a waste of space. Life is just about getting by.
A chance meeting in Edinburgh’s Cancer Centre is the catalyst for something very different.
Sometimes all you need is someone who listens.
First page of chapter 1
Maria 1993
I clambered out the window, mumbled to myself, cursing at the stiffness of my old legs, held on tight to the knotted sheets and slid my way down ungracefully, most likely comically. My room was only on the first floor and really, such a means of escape was unnecessary, but I wanted to do it properly. This was something I would do only once in my lifetime. I had to make the most of it.
Once safely down I took a quick glance back at the building, blew a kiss, took a deep breath, picked up my handbag, and tip-toed across the lawn to the row of pine trees that hid the grounds from the road. I felt like a rebellious teenager sneaking out of the house to meet an unapproved of boyfriend or some such thing. It was so exciting and peculiarly familiar. Ah yes. That time. So long ago. Leave it be. I had no time for dilly dallying around in memories that were no use to me.
My feet reached the gravel of the drive. Crunch, crunch, crunch. It was noisy. Too noisy! I might wake them. Alert them to my escape. Allow capture. That simply wouldn’t do ! Slow down Maria. Slow down. I stepped back onto the grass and padded softly along it until I reached the gate.
About author Fiona Curlew
Fiona dropped out of school age 15, because being the consummate rebel, she hated it. After becoming a single parent she decided to return to education graduating in 1996 with honours degree in primary education. Ah, the irony!
As soon as she graduated she packed everything she owned into her Renault 11, including her daughter, two dogs and a cat and headed off to Estonia to become an international school teacher. After fifteen years of teaching, predominantly in Eastern Europe she returned to the UK to focus on her writing.
She now lives on the east coast of Scotland with a rescued Ukrainian street mutt (now deceased – a heavy sigh) a Scottish Black Labrador, Springer Spaniel and a Portuguese cat who doesn’t like the weather!
She is the author of two novels, Retribution a dystopian thriller and Dan Knew, the semi-autobiographical account her travels through the eyes of Dan, one of her Ukrainian rescue dogs.
You can find Fiona Curlew on her Website
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