It is always a joy for me to be in Greystones, the beautiful Wicklow seaside town where I spent so much of my childhood and which had so much influence in my becoming a writer.

When Trish Hennessy and Sarah Webb of the local bookshop Halfway Up the Stairs asked me about doing a very different event based around my book Safe Harbour which would involve a walk with young readers to see and talk about some of the important locations in the book  I was intrigued and perhaps a  little nervous. They wanted me  bring people to see the place that Sophie and Hugh discover when they are evacuated during World War II from London to Ireland and to Greystones.

When Sophie and Hugh’s  house is bombed and their mother is badly  injured during the London Blitz they are evacuated to Greystones to live with their strict and regimented grandfather, who lives in a big, old house overlooking the sea. They have never seen or even heard about him or spoken to him so it is a big shock and a change to be sent to someone who they quickly sense doesn’t really want them.

The sun shone and the beaches were busy as we set off on our walk. It was wonderful to be able to show my readers and their parents the places Sophie and Hugh came to love and know and were important parts of the book and to even get to see the old air raid siren over the garage which helped give me the idea for the book…  Afterwards we went back to the shop to sign books and chat.

The Greystones Book Walk was fully booked out but thanks to the lovely readers who still came along to join us in the bookshop afterwards.

 Huge thanks to Sarah, who came with us and Trish for organising such a lovely book event