Post war love story is backdrop of new Ryan-Lush novel

By Tyler Waugh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Author Geraldine Ryan-Lush provides readers with a love triangle in a post-war backdrop in her new novel, Terrace Houses, which launches June 6 with an event at the Jumping Bean location on Topsail Road.

Ryan-Lush, a longtime Mount Pearl resident now based in St. John’s, said the story centres around the son of a soldier afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and deals with the impacts that has on the child, along with the challenges of growing up in wartime Britain.

“I was always fascinated with World War II, because I come from a war family on both sides,” said Ryan-Lush, who already has 20 books published.

The main character eventually grows up, gets married to the daughter of a German banker and moves to Canada. His marriage of convenience becomes challenged when he meets another woman.

“And so it goes, in terms of love stories. Things get, you know, pretty intense from there,” said Ryan-Lush, adding that her main character finds redemption and comes to grip with his childhood traumas. “It’s a journey of discovery for him.”

Ryan-Lush has established herself in the literary world in a number of genres, from poetry to ghost stories and children’s fiction, including the Canada Book Award-winning novel, The Seashell’s Lament, and the renowned children’s book Hairs on Bears.

The book launch runs from 2-5 p.m. and will include a reading from Terrace Houses. Copies of most of her previous work will be available for purchase and there will be a giveaway of a soft cover copy of Hairs on Bears. She says the giveaways are rooted in her belief in literacy and exposing children to books, something that stems from her upbringing in rural St. Mary’s.

“There wasn’t a library in the community where I was from,” she said. “The only books we were exposed to were the ones in school and whatever my parents could get for me. I always seemed to want more books. I could never get enough books because I was a voracious reader.”

The book launch is also a bit of a family affair, with son Shannon Marshall Lush and his book titled His Soldier’s Coat, which centres around the 1942 Knights of Columbus fire.