To the Liverpool of the 1930s came Bridget O'Brien, a
young widow with two children, about to be forced to marry a man she
had never met. Her destination was the infamous Scotland Road, where
people lived lives of deprivation and courage backed by a rich
tradition and a folklore they had themselves invented. For Bridget,
straight from Ireland, fleeing from a brutal and bigoted father,
Scotland Road was, at first, noisy and terrifying. Her sense of
isolation was made worse when she met her middle-aged bridegroom,
Sam Bell, whose twin sons were older than she was. It was the rough
and vibrant Costigan family who first made her welcome. Diddy, and
Billy, her docker husband, did their best to ease the young widow
into her new life. Anthony, one of her so-called stepsons, also held
out the hand of friendship, but Liam, the favourite of his father,
had the power to terrify her. Liam was cold, compelling, mysterious
and antagonistic. He was also a priest. Through the depression of
the 30s and the savagery of the Second World War, the story of
Bridie, her daughters and the two men who were to shape her destiny
was played out. |