Prologue

The young clergyman climbs down from the pulpit to stand between the two coffins. Looking down, he places a hand on each. A silence envelops the packed church, but there is no shuffling of feet, no sense of unease.
“Dearly beloved brethren,” he begins. Then he throws back his head and treats his congregation to a wide smile. “How unusually apt that phrase is today. Surrounded as I am by family, theirs and mine. I have such a strong feeling that Lillian is going to be very cross with me if I get this wrong.”
He pauses as a ripple of laughter runs round the church.
“So I shall try very hard to get it right. Not only for her, but for all of us here who loved them both. We have shed our tears already. We know how much we shall miss them. But these are lives to be celebrated, and I intend to try.
“Where to start? Was Lillian an extraordinary woman born into ordinary times, or an ordinary woman born in extraordinary times? Both, I suspect. The very first time I met her she tore me off a strip for daring to suggest that working wives were a new phenomenon. I was suitably chastised, but also aware that she had enlarged my understanding of the world she grew up in.
“No, that’s wrong. Not the world she grew up in. That was even further back. Lillian was a Victorian. That’s a difficult concept for those of us who knew and loved her. Born at the turn of the century. Almost literally. In January, 1900.
“Born into a very different world…”

Copyright 2006, Sally Gardner

 

"Sunday, 3rd September, 1939

They’ve done it. They’ve really done it. We are at war with Germany. Marcus and Jimmy and William came up last night and Timmy and Lettie are here too. It is half past eleven and Mr Chamberlain has just finished his announcement. We all knew it was coming but somehow we couldn’t quite bring ourselves to believe it was actually going to happen.
Martha, Thirza and I get up and go and put the kettle on. No one says anything for a minute and then Father says, “Well, that’s that then,” and goes outside. Lettie comes up to me and I see that she is trying not to cry. Poor child, she and Timmy have only been married a few months and –
Oh my God, the radio is still on and they are saying there is an air raid on London... we all stand stock-still and Jimmy  comes and puts his arm round me and the children pick up the tension and Margaret and Norma start to cry….then Marcus says, “Stop – listen,” and…..they are saying it is a false alarm. Oh, thank you, God. Thank you.
Apparently an aircraft was spotted off the coast and all the sirens went off but it was just one of our own aeroplanes.
We make light of it to reassure the children. William helps me to take the tea round as my hands are shaking so much. The papers are saying that the government can conscript anyone between eighteen and forty-one. They don’t think the older ones will be called up but my William has been already. He brings the big teapot out and starts refilling everyone’s cups and everything seems so normal. He glances over at me and grins. He is still a child. How can they send him to war?
Marcus sees my face and says that this war will not be like the last one because of the air power. “He might be safer in the army than stuck in London, Lillian.” I know he means well but as Thirza says it’s not much of a comfort when he and Jimmy are just going back there. They want to leave soon so as to be back for the King’s broadcast tonight. I wish we were going too. I am not at all sure about being up here, but the men say that knowing we are out of London is important to them. ‘We’ll see how it goes’, is what we are saying. If it was just me I wouldn’t stay here but of course I’ve got Jack to think of.
They are leaving now. I suddenly wonder if I will ever see any of them again. I smile and say, “You mind how you go now,” as if they are off for a picnic. Marcus’s big car roars off and we stand with the kids, waving them out of sight. Later, when everyone is in bed, I slip into the garden and sit looking up at the sky. It is a beautiful, quiet night. Tess comes and pushes her head onto my lap.
I cry very quietly so that no one will hear me."

Copyright 2006, Sally Gardner

 

September 1997.

Rosalind said she was taking Phoebe up to Buckingham Palace today so I asked if we could hitch a lift. We were going on the train but I thought that might make a long day for Thirza. Well, and for me. Rosalind came and got us, bless her, and we all took posies of flowers with us.
When we got out of the car the first thing to hit me was the amazing scent of the flowers. Hundreds and hundreds of flowers. And candles. And that enormous crowd, people of all ages and all walks of life, waiting quietly for the royal family to show some respect, if not grief,  for this woman so many of us had come to care about.
Like most people here, we watched Diana struggling to grow into a good woman. We watched her cuddling AIDS victims and wondered if we would have dared. We watched her walking through fields that may or may not have been cleared of landmines and hoped that we would have had that much courage. Most of all we saw her being a good mother. And, we suspected, a good wife if she’d been given half a chance.
Difficult not to believe that her death would seem very convenient to the family who appear to us to have used and abused her. As a last spiteful gesture, taking away her title. No HRH for the mother of a future king? But she was indeed the “people’s princess.” For all her failings, or perhaps because of them, she was probably this family’s last chance at a continuing monarchy.
Loved. And beautiful and brave. And, of course, she will never grow old now. Always on the brink of being the person we hoped and expected her to become. For ever. Possibly, in death, more difficult to ignore and to overlook, than anyone could have dreamt.

Copyright 2006, Sally Gardner

 

Sally is taking this opportunity to thank all the readers of Lillian’s Story, her first novel, for their support and the feedback received from all over the world.

 

Look out for Sally’s latest two novels, Painting by Numbers and The Sweetest Empire

published on ebooks now!

Sally is taking this opportunity to thank all the readers of Lillian’s Story, her first novel, for their support and the feedback received from all over the world.

 

As a way of expressing her gratitude to everyone who has encouraged her to continue writing, all three books will be available for download free of charge for a limited period.

 

Sally Is Chair of Shorelink Community Writers, whose site can be found here

 

If you have been moved by some of Lillian's war experiences, you might be interested to look at The Forces Poetry website. A link is at the bottom of this page. 

The Forces Poetry website has been created for you, anyone. Whether you are or were a member of the armed forces anywhere, a relative, or you just want to express yourself then this is where to do it. You do not need to have been in a war or personally lost someone, you may just wish to write about something which moves you; then write it and we'll consider it for publishing on the site.

Just Click Here.

The people running the site are a mixture of ex forces (male and female), partners of ex forces, their children and people who have no direct link to the forces.