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Unlocking a hidden family history


What journalist, writer, and broadcaster Felicity McCall thought would remain a family story has become her latest book. Tombstones Lie, An Imagined Memoir


(Hivestudio Books, 2019), grew into a deeper work of uncovering hidden relationships, and a new appreciation for sacrifices of past generations. Felicity began that journey about four years ago, armed with four sepia-toned photos and family lore. She wanted to know more about her


father’s family. She knew her grandmother, Jinny, was not married when Felicity’s father was born, and that Jinny died at age 40 after an unhappy marriage. “For any girl who wanted to keep her child and acknowledge her child, it inevitably meant a very, very hard life,” Felicity said. Felicity also knew her father was partly


reared by Maggie, a woman who had also looked after Jinny. Both women died before Felicity was born; her father passed away in recent years. In her memoir, Felicity brings the women to


life through inherited stories. Maggie was a brave figure, rearing her own children as well as her younger siblings. She put her philandering husband out of the house. Jinny never revealed the father of her oldest child. These women did not take an easy road. Ultimately, the information she uncovers


transforms her understanding of those relationships and particularly of those women.


A member of the Derry and North West


branch and a near 40-year member of the NUJ, Felicity was with the BBC for 20 years in news and current affairs; and is the author of 21 works, including novels, non-fiction, and plays. Tombstones Lie has struck a chord with audiences at readings and its recent Derry launch, and Felicity is planning workshops to support women in telling their own stories. She would like her memoir to serve as a


Fel icity McCal l reads from her new book, Tombstones Lie, An Imagined Memoir, at the Derry launch at the city’s Central Library.


catalyst for people to explore the women in their families. “It’s just about finding out who those


women were, and acknowledging them, and paying tribute to them,” Felicity said.


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