Death In December – Michael Sheridan

One of Georges’s forbears had been a teacher, and while formal education skipped a couple of generations, there would have been a reasonable expectation for Sophie to complete an academic course and pursue a professional career. It was what she would eventually settle into, but there were some natural and unpredictable obstacles of life to deal with first. After the bookselling she and Pierre worked in a video store that was owned by his father. At the tender age of twenty-two they decided to get married.

On 21 June 1980, the young couple were married by Pierre’s mother’s second husband, who was mayor of their village near Orleans. The reception was held in the home of the groom nearby. Marguerite took out a number of family albums to show me one which contained the wedding photographs. There are stunning portraits of Sophie, a radiant bride, her blonde hair swept back and expertly plaited, reaching down the back of her dress to her waistline. In the church she stands beside Pierre at the traditional spot at the head of the congregation.

Summer sunlight pours in through the windows to the couple’s right. Georges, Marguerite, Bertrand, Pascale and other relations look on proudly. Sophie’s beauty was more luminous than ever that day. Marie Madeleine constantly tries to capture in words her niece’s effect, but she does not have to labour it because here it is, casting her bright spirit up out of the celluloid annals of her life.

Marie Madeleine describes it again: ‘Sophie would light up a room, create an atmosphere – vibrant, beautiful but natural and with no sense of pride. She had this aura which was immediately obvious, wherever she went or whatever social or family occasion she attended.’ In another photograph, the church has been replaced by the rectangular room in Pierre’s family house where the civil part of the ceremony takes place. Sophie has a smile of pure happiness as she looks across at her mother.

Sophie’s whole expression and demeanour in these wedding photographs speak of happiness. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last. Perhaps things happened too quickly for so young a couple, too much responsibility too soon. Sophie became pregnant almost immediately, and on 26 March of the following year, gave birth to her son, Pierre Louis. According to both Bertrand and Marie Madeleine, after the birth the relationship ran into difficulties. They don’t know what it was specifically; nothing they were party to.

Sophie was not the type of person who would make a family issue of her own problems. Just months after the birth of their son, Sophie and Pierre separated. They divorced two years later, in 1983. Sophie took Pierre Louis and moved into an apartment near her parents. She worked in a variety of jobs and continued to read voraciously and to write.

This book is dedicated to the memory of Sophie Toscan du Plantier 28 July 1957 – 23 December 1996 And to her family and extended family who share with my mother Patsy and her friends Maxie and Cissie Dooley the essence of good, which will always triumph over evil and restore our faith in humanity. OceanofPDF.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This story would have been incomplete without the unprecedented co-operation of Sophie’s family, Georges, Marguerite and Bertrand Bouniol and Marie Madeleine Opalka.

How they and Sophie’s son, Pierre Louis, younger brother Stephane and cousins Alexandra and Patricia have survived the grief is beyond my comprehension. My admiration for their courage is unbounded. I am also very grateful for the time, support and co-operation of Daniel Toscan du Plantier. The book could not have been published without the help of a large number of people, many of who, for professional or personal reasons, prefer to remain anonymous.

I am greatly indebted to them for their time, consideration and expertise. I would like to thank the people of Schull who have been unfailingly welcoming during my time there researching the story. Special thanks to Val Duffy, his wife Vera and his staff at the East End Hotel for their generosity and co-operation. My gratitude also to Bill Hogan, cheesemaker extraordinaire, for his time; to Josephine Hellen, Leo Bolger, John Montague and Elizabeth Wassell, and to master photographer John Minihan for his great company and unerring eye.

To Bill Crozier and the committee of the Schull Arts Festival for an inspired opening, and to local historian Michael O’Carroll for his enviable knowledge of centuries of happenings in the area. And to the many other people of the area who wish to remain anonymous. My thanks to retired DI Gerry O’Carroll for an entrée to a world that previously had been entirely foreign to me, and to his wife Kathleen and daughters Ellie and Mags for providing a stimulating world of love and fun for Cian and Fionn, for which I also owe a big thank you to my daughter Sarah.

Thanks to Ger for putting up with the impossible and irritable author and his manifest insecurities. To Marty and Maria for the same over the years. A special thank you to my nephew, Sheridan Flynn, for his assistance. I am grateful for the continuing support and the commission for the article that inspired this book from Aenghus Fanning, Anne Harris and Willie Kealy of the Sunday Independent.

I will not forget the support and spiritual assistance of songwriter supreme Jimmy McCarthy, and the wise counsel of Hugh Duffy.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 52732176a9f25e16
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,843,269 bytes (1.758 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 161
• Language: English (en)

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