Finian's Nook

I introduced the little harbour town named Finian’s Nook into the book because I thought the story needed a second focus point, a different location to move the drama away from Tempus Cross for a couple of chapters. I think Finian’s worked well as a place for Daniel & Georgi Blake to escape to - a little haven far away, somewhere they could raise their daughter, Trixi, and try to forget their troubles back in Somerset.

The more I pictured Finian's Nook in my mind, the more I realised I’d opened up a ‘story-within-a-story’ by inventing another village/town similar in size and population to Tempus Cross. By doing so, I was able to bring in a whole new crop of characters - none more-so than the unfortunate Finian himself.

For the creation of this harmless vagabond, I took inspiration from an old film I’d watched as a child in the 1970's: Ryan’s Daughter, a tale set in Ireland during World War 1. English actor, John Mills, excellently played the part of ‘Michael’ (a character who is a little cruelly described as a half-wit on Wikipedia). Michael hung around his hometown, set in County Kerry, generally making a nuisance of himself, whilst at the same time being looked upon affectionately by the others who lived there. I only have a vague memory of the film, but remember how well Michael was portrayed - hence, this character remained tucked away in my memory bank.

In my book, Finian, was to have lived sometime in the 1700’s, leading a nomadic existence, mostly inhabiting the woodland above the town close to the also fictional, Pizes Ridge, only venturing down into the fishing community to look for work or beg for food. The event of his grizzly demise in front of the villagers gave birth to the first part of the town’s name, his tragic ending becoming emblazoned into local folklore.

The second part of the name: Nook, was drawn from something far closer to me, personally. My mother was a Geordie who’d moved south when she was around 19 or 20 years old, her family remain living close to Jarrow to this day and we still make the trip north to visit them from time to time. Mum, Janet (although they all called her Jenny up there) died in 2006, but I recall she never smiled so much as when we visited the North East to see her family and the places where she would have spent her childhood. I've always wondered if Mum partially regretted leaving Jarrow.

There is a 'place' in South Shields/Marsden called The Nook. I’m not quite sure if The Nook is made up of a couple of streets, a neighbourhood or a just row of shops, but if you watch the Great North Run on the telly (a run I have completed three times), you’ll always hear the commentators mention the runners going through/past The Nook as they approach the seafront. It always brings a smile to my face when Brendan Foster announces The Nook in his Geordie accent. Anyway, there it is - my inspiration for part two of Finian’s Nook.

I have loads more to say about Finian's Nook, not least the backstory for the fisherman, Captain Hugh Pedler and his wife, Betsy, who we will meet again in the sequel. I’ll produce another blog to delve deeper into my book's 'other' location in the near future.

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