The Pub Across the Pond (41 page)

BOOK: The Pub Across the Pond
7.02Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

“What’s that smell?” he said.

“It must be garbage,” Bailey said, clenching her stomach.

As they approached the entrance to the beautiful limestone building where their penthouse awaited, Bailey’s attention was arrested by a patch of bright yellow tulips shimmering in the dredges of the afternoon sun. Bailey loved the month of May, littering the city with her favorite color. How simple happiness was sometimes; how free. The color yellow made Bailey happy. It was one of the things Brad loved about her, how much she loved the color yellow.

“Because of you,” Brad had said, “I’ll never think of yellow
the same way again. No matter what.” She was twenty-one when he said that to her. First she obsessed on how romantic that was, then she switched to analyzing the “No matter what.”

What did he mean by that? Was he already forecasting a future breakup? She’d forever changed his relationship to the color yellow. Was that supposed to be a consolation prize? And if so, was that enough?

“Bails,” he said when she complained to him. “Name all the things you can that are yellow. Go.”

The sun, flowers, signs, school buses, traffic lights, lemons, plastic squeeze containers of mustard, not to mention the mustard itself, urine—

“Urine?” Brad said. “Urine?!”

Gross maybe, but it still counted, and since he drank a lot of water, always carried around whatever new magic water was on the market, it was a logical choice.

For the rest of his life, simple, everyday and sometimes mundane, ugly objects or disgusting bodily fluids would remind him of her. And she supposed that was good enough.

If, each time he saw the color yellow, some semblance of a thought of her ran through him, yes, that would definitely be of some consolation. Although there was no court of law, no law-abiding-yellow rule that would force him to follow it, still it was out there, as energy, his proclamation. They were forever bound by the color yellow till-death-do-they-part. It would have to be enough.

Was that what love was? Forever changing you in the tiniest of ways, so that
no matter what,
you’d never be the same again? She had a million little references like that with Brad as well, probably way more than he had with her, but it was enough, knowing he would never look at yellow the same way ever again. And they were still together. She’d never faced “No matter what.” At their wedding he gave her a hundred yellow roses.

If Faye and Jason weren’t watching her every move, she’d love to cut a few of the tulips to bring up to the penthouse. Not that she’d ever really do such a thing. There were a million
things Bailey thought about doing, and very few she ever actually did. Brad was the risk taker, the kite soaring for the clouds; Bailey was the one with her feet on the ground, holding the string, poised to tug him back to earth whenever he’d gone too far. So, no stolen tulips for her clients today, but at least she had the chocolate-chip-scented candle in her purse. If only she’d had the time to actually bake chocolate-chip cookies. Imagine a New Yorker having that kind of time! She paused for one more look at the glorious bulbs and soothed her rule-following self with the thought that, once cut, the tulips would have lost most of their brilliance anyway. After all, it was the targeted ray of sunshine making them glitter, and even a wild child couldn’t cut down the sun.

“Hands behind back,” Bailey said. “Smile, but not too much.”

“I just don’t get it,” Jason said. “How come I can smell the garbage but I can’t see it?”

Bailey dug the candle out of her purse and held it up. “Maybe I should light this now,” she said.

Did you enjoy this teaser? Click here to get your copy.
Please turn the page for a very special Q&A with Mary Carter.
Was it challenging to write a book that takes place in another country? What kind of research did you do for the novel?
It was extremely challenging. In fact, when I first suggested the idea of this novel to my editor, I didn't think he would be interested in it. When I found out he loved the idea, I freaked out a little. I felt completely over my head and was slightly terrified of what I had gotten myself into.
As far as research, I hung out at a lot of Irish pubs in New York. Truth be told, I was hanging out at them long before I wrote the book. It's part of what inspired me in the first place. Like Carlene in the book (and many women), I'd always had a weakness for Irish men—the charm, the accent—the world of trouble. I think I'm more immune to them now, and I finally have a balance of Irish friends who are women. I still love the culture, however, and the music, and the craic.
Tell us about your trip. Did you love it? Was this your first time in Ireland? Are the Irish really as friendly as everyone says?
It was truly the trip of a lifetime. I spent a month in the Republic of Ireland. I was in Dingle, Adare, Killarney, Limerick, Kilmallock (my favorite), Charleville, Cork City, Conna, Youghall, Castlemartyr, Kinsale, Dublin, and Galway. I made it out to the Aran Islands for a day as well. I went to several horse races, and thanks to a friend who is also a bookmaker, even won a few bob on the ponies, played poker until five in the morning (and came in second!!!), hung out in numerous pubs, saw the sights, marveled at the street performers in Dublin and Galway, took every Hop-On Hop-Off bus there was, went to a stand-up comedy show in Galway, ate so much I gained ten pounds, watched Tiger Woods play in Adare, and saw incredible live music from traditional to rock. Most of all I met incredible people. They were even friendlier than everyone says, and more than willing to help me out with an idea, a joke, a line, a book, a tip, a lesson, or a fact for the novel. Even though I had a complete outline and had written a draft of the novel before my trip, the experience definitely helped shape and enrich the final manuscript.
Do you have Irish in your family?
On my mother's side, it's mostly Irish Catholic. My great-great-grandmother (there may be one more great in there, I'm not sure) was from Ballymena, County Antrim, in the North (where Liam Neeson is from, by the way!). She immigrated to Philadelphia. We don't have terrific records—or even the correct spelling of my great-great-grandmother's surname—and I have yet to visit Northern Ireland, but I would certainly love to one day. Besides being a big tea drinker and having red hair, and quoting saints, my mother (and grandmother and maternal aunts) embodied the Irish spirit, always making me feel as if Ireland was my distant home. I do realize the Irish encounter this a lot—wannabes, so to speak; regardless, sometimes culture is so passionate and pervasive, the place may be far removed but the identity remains strong for generations to come. Besides, my name is Mary Patricia, and you can't grow up with that name without thinking you must be just a little bit Irish.
Why do you think so many people want to be Irish?
I definitely think it's the fun we seem to think of them having nonstop. They do know how to throw down and have a good time. They appreciate good conversation. They are witty, and intelligent, and friendly, and very quick to come up with a snappy line or words of wisdom. They are prolific and musical. Their country is stunningly beautiful, and the Guinness is smooth, the women are admirably spirited, and there is a bit of risk-taking type of danger in some of the lads. They carry the strength of a people who have experienced atrocities, yet survived and thrived. And the accent. Have I mentioned the accent? Who wouldn't want to be Irish?
Isn't there a dark side to drinking? Why didn't you address the dire consequences of alcoholism in the novel?
You make a million decisions when you sit down to write a novel, and one of them concerns its tone. Yes, of course, alcoholism, everywhere in the world, is a serious problem. Riley is one character in the book you could say is an alcoholic. So was Carlene's ex-boyfriend, Brendan. But had I delved into this topic much more, it would have been a very different book. Without being too idealistic, I wanted more of a fun, romantic story that focused on the positive aspects of pub life in Ireland—a sense of community, a place to share stories, a place to laugh, a place to get away from your troubles. That was the type of experience my heroine, Carlene, needed to have in order to grow and make up for the lack of affection and sense of community that was lacking in her life. Every pub probably has your token drunk slumped at the bar by the end of the evening, but that's not the majority. Stereotypes of the Irish and drinking abound, and I didn't want to play into them. I've met plenty of Irish people who don't drink at all. I wanted that sense of the pub as a home away from home to be the primary focus of the novel.
Are your characters based on people you know in real life?
Yes, many of the characters in this particular novel were
inspired
by real people. And I get this question a lot. But what people need to understand is that a character often embodies several people a writer has met in their life, all shaped and morphed and rolled into one character—with a little bit of the writer existing in each character, and this funny thing characters tend to do, which is take on a life of their own during the writing process. So by the time it's all said and done, even though the idea for a character may have been sparked by so-and-so, by the time they are fleshed out, they are truly their own people. That said, I met so many great folks in Ireland, I did do a little “character stealing” for some of the smaller roles. And even though the story is based in Galway, which is on the West Coast of Ireland, I primarily based the town of Ballybeog on my favorite town in Ireland—Kilmallock, County Limerick. I took creative liberties, of course, and it must be reiterated that it is a work of fiction.
What are you working on next?
I am working on a new novel for Kensington—the juicy details of which I am going to keep to myself for now, but soon you will be able to read more about it at
marycarterbooks.com
.
A READING GROUP GUIDE
THE PUB ACROSS THE POND
Mary Carter
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
 
 
The suggested questions are included to enhance
your group's reading of Mary Carter's
The Pub Across the Pond.
 
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1.
In the beginning of the novel, a crowd is gathered at Uncle Jimmy's pub. They are waiting on a bride. What is the general mood of the crowd, and how do the various characters feel about love? How does the atmosphere change with the arrival of the German student? How do they react to the proclamation that he is thinking about killing himself?
2.
Ronan McBride is a gambler. Carlene Rivers, according to her best friend, Becca, is “the unluckiest girl in the world.” Who is actually luckier—Ronan or Carlene? What chances do each of them take in the novel, and which one of them makes the biggest gamble?
3.
“Luck is like the weather. It can change like that,” an Irishman tells Carlene in the beginning of the novel. How does Carlene's luck change throughout the novel? Is she lucky or unlucky? How does she behave when she considers herself lucky as opposed to when she considers herself unlucky?
4.
How does Ronan feel about Carlene when he first spies her standing in the middle of the fountain in Eyre Square? Is it different from how he expected to feel about her? Why does his reaction to her bother him? Would Ronan have fallen in love with “Unlucky Carlene,” who never would have ventured into the fountain in the first place?
5.
Does anything in Carlene's past prepare her to run a pub? What does she get from the Irish culture that she'd been lacking her whole life? What role does touch play in Carlene's past, and how is it different when she comes to Ireland?
6.
What does Carlene see as some of the cultural differences between the Irish and Americans? If the Irish festival in Dublin, Ohio, were to take place in Ireland, what would be the difference?
7.
How did growing up around mostly women affect Ronan? How did growing up among mostly men affect Carlene?
8.
The Irish are known as the friendliest people in the world. Is every Irish person Carlene meets friendly? If not, who isn't? How do the people of Ballybeog react to Carlene? Who likes her? Who doesn't? Can she trust all of them?
9.
How does Carlene react to the mysterious pranks being played on her, and Joe's never-ending quest to take over the property?
10.
Why does Carlene continue to wear the blue rubber gloves even though her father isn't around? And when she was with her father, was she enabling him by agreeing to all of his rituals or was she just being a good daughter? Would she have been able to get him to stop? Would he have let her stop?
11.
Why doesn't Carlene name the cat or the pub right away? What does this say about her?
12.
How does Ronan treat Carlene? Is it different from how he treats the other women in his life? Is he consistent or erratic with her? How does Carlene's past relationship with an Irish man affect the way she interacts with Ronan?
13.
What kind of relationship does Carlene have with her regulars? Would her experience have been different if there were no regulars, just new customers coming in every day?
14.
Sally tells Carlene that Irish women don't like her. How does Carlene react, and what does she think of Irish women? Is Sally telling the truth? Does Carlene's relationship to Irish women change by the end of the book?
15.
Carlene tells Sally, “Become the man you want to marry.” How does Sally decide to implement this? Is Sally a changed woman by the end of the book?
16.
What role does music play in Irish culture? Is it any different from American culture?
17.
What role does the pub play in Irish culture? Is it any different from bars in America?
18.
How is the second lottery of the pub different from the first? What does the outcome say about Carlene's presence in Ballybeog? In which circumstance do you think Carlene was luckier?
19.
Carlene was deeply affected by her mother's death and carried residual guilt. Her father was deeply affected as well. If Ronan hadn't pushed her, would Carlene have ever shared her “confession” with her father? Would their lives have been different if the two had broached the subject early on? Does Carlene change when her father finally reveals the truth about her mother's passing? Does her father?
20.
Do you think Carlene and Ronan will live happily ever after? Will they actually get married? Will they continue to run the pub? Why or why not?
BOOK: The Pub Across the Pond
7.02Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

The Way It Works by William Kowalski
I Forgot to Tell You by Charis Marsh
Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel
Knights of the Blood by Katherine Kurtz, Scott MacMillan
The Infamous Rogue by Alexandra Benedict
Faking Life by Jason Pinter