Forty-seven Roses Book

The title of Peter Sheridan's second memoir Forty-Seven Roses refers to the number of flowers left on his father's grave by a long-standing friend, Doris. "A space had been cleared away in the centre, about where his heart would be. On it lay a fresh bunch of red and white roses." Sheridan's father, Peter, first met Doris in Dublin in 1947. If religion and politics hadn't conspired against them the couple would have more than likely married. In the event, Peter married Anna, Sheridan's mother, instead. Throughout his parent's marriage, Doris was ever omnipresent and became a constant thorn in his mother's side, as over a period that spanned 47 years his father continued to maintain a relationship with the wife that never was, meeting occasionally and corresponding regularly. Following his Dad's sudden death, Sheridan sets out to discover why Doris remained faithful to a man she could never have and why his father held onto a fantasy that would never be fulfilled. As Sheridan forms a relationship with Doris himself, he begins to understand why his father never let go of the woman fate forced him to leave behind. What unfolds is the true story of one man's love for two women, and two women's love for one man. --Christopher KellyRead More