In Darnay Road I try to capture life on an average small town neighborhood street through the eyes of a little girl, ten-year-old Georgia Christine. Through her perspective we get a picture bathed in sunshine with a few dark spots. There is the mystery of the altar in the parish church dubbed Bloody Heart. And a crazy lady who stands on the sidewalk in her slip and talks to her dead husband. And where do the boys go at night when they climb out of their windows and what about that bump on the front of Georgia’s new Ken doll, and why does Granma tell Georgia’s father that he’s missing so much when it comes to her? She doesn’t want him, she doesn’t know him. Then there is her mother who ran off to be a model in Paris, and the picture of a dark haired woman in a beautiful blue dress.
There are the tracks behind the houses that line Darnay, there is the run-down neighborhood on the other side of the tracks. Granma calls that place the slums.
Georgia’s homelife is idyllic. She is being raised by her grandmother. Her father is a cop in the city and he has a new family. Her mother is dead. Across the street her best friend is being raised in similar circumstances by her aunt. Granma and Auntie make up the stable forces in Georgia’s life.
But what about those boys that come from the other side–the slums? Georgia is drawn to the one who lives on his bike. The one who whistles at her while she’s skating. She gets so thrown she doesn’t make the corner and zips into traffic instead. She narrowly escapes disaster with a broken bone.
That is the beginning of a true friendship between Georgia and Easy Caghan.
An excerpt of this book can be seen on Amazon along with some lovely reviews. I quote one here from reader Fran:
The characters portrayed in Darnay Road are so real, especially if you grew up in the 60s. Living with your Gram instead of your parents makes you think so differently and care so much more. You appreciate her selflessness in taking you in, and you develop that trait, the nurturing one. This is what happens here. Young, Georgia Christine’s destiny was written the first time Easy (E.C.) rode his bike by her house. She was smitten, as was he. But life gets in their way and the path is not clear until years later. Take the journey with them
Darnay Road is listed as literary fiction and historical romance and is available for 2.99 at:
Diane Munier 