Ways of Gentleness

Following a bitter and bruising divorce, Jill Warneford moves with her two children into a Pennine cottage. She has recently returned from her uncle's funeral with a number of letters and photographs. She remembers her aunt and uncle with great affection, having visited them as a student, but she and the rest of her family know little of their early life together.

Between caring for people's dogs and teaching Ballroom dancing, Jill begins unravelling the mystery. She learns that, as a nurse in Malaya, Auntie Iris was interned by the Japanese, and that Uncle Maurice discovered her after the Japanese surrender, whilst searching the Rompin riverbanks for elements of resistance.

The only available letters are those written by Maurice and, from this one-sided source, she attempts to trace their reunion in England and learns how their relationship was impeded by the inhibiting spectre of past brutality.

The stories continue a generation apart, with Jill seeking her own way forward whilst hoping to learn of similar resolution in the past.