What do you think?
Rate this book
Piccalilli
Piccalilly is a short children's novel about Lillian, an eight year old girl who is missing her older brother, Joe. He has been serving in the army in WWI. When Lillian's parents receive a telegram informing them of the worst, Lillian discovers that Joe's spirit is living on in a series of comforting events.
58 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 19, 2016
7 people want to read
About the author
Samantha Henthorn
12 books53 followers I live happily in Bury near Manchester UK I used to be a nurse, but now I'm a disabled middle-aged housewife who writes books. I have been writing full time since 2014, I write every day, I read every day, so we more than likely have loads in common.
I currently have ten books available on Amazon. All of my books are set in the North West of England, written with British English spelling and grammar. They are narrated in the same fashion folk say 'stuff' around here!
My genres are comedy-drama and historical fiction. I enjoyed writing them, you will enjoy reading them, promise! Here is my mailing list:
https://landing.mailerlite.com/webfor...
I am partway through a Creative Writing and English Literature degree. After the publication of short stories and poetry in magazines, I decided to write as an independent author.
I currently have ten books available on Amazon. All of my books are set in the North West of England, written with British English spelling and grammar. They are narrated in the same fashion folk say 'stuff' around here!
My genres are comedy-drama and historical fiction. I enjoyed writing them, you will enjoy reading them, promise! Here is my mailing list:
https://landing.mailerlite.com/webfor...
I am partway through a Creative Writing and English Literature degree. After the publication of short stories and poetry in magazines, I decided to write as an independent author.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 2, 2019
The author rekindled a tale of hopes, dreams and tragedies from a family of generations gone by. The character-driven storyline delivered me back to the days of the Great War... the war that would end all wars.. so we thought. With a robust family of two parents and ten children, the narrative honed in on one well-defined character, Lilly. It was through her smile, laughter and tears, she came to terms with the loss of her beloved brothers... in her own way.
The Smith family had sacrificed two of their eldest sons to the war, William and Joe. It was Joe, the younger of the two that was most favored by his little sister, Lilly. He had bestowed upon her the pet name - Piccalilly... mostly for her love of picalillies - pickled relish. They were inseparable.
Even in death, Joe had paid many visits to Lilly. At aged 8, she was not ready to let him go, not ready to say goodbye. Her mother was beside herself... father, at his wit's end. The family was being ripped apart. I recommend this heartfelt story for anyone looking to experience a family's undying love - family's difficult loss.
The Smith family had sacrificed two of their eldest sons to the war, William and Joe. It was Joe, the younger of the two that was most favored by his little sister, Lilly. He had bestowed upon her the pet name - Piccalilly... mostly for her love of picalillies - pickled relish. They were inseparable.
Even in death, Joe had paid many visits to Lilly. At aged 8, she was not ready to let him go, not ready to say goodbye. Her mother was beside herself... father, at his wit's end. The family was being ripped apart. I recommend this heartfelt story for anyone looking to experience a family's undying love - family's difficult loss.
January 7, 2019
The use of language has been Such a fond stroll down memory lane for me, I loved the inclusion of old sayings, my Nan would often use such sayings and I still do to this day.
I won’t say too much, I will say that it’s well written and the author has done such a remarkable job in creating a day in the life during the war.
I look forward to reading more.
I won’t say too much, I will say that it’s well written and the author has done such a remarkable job in creating a day in the life during the war.
I look forward to reading more.
May 5, 2024
Forewarning: this review includes a description of the ending.
This story was originally written for the author's mother in memory of her Nana. It is set in wartime Bolton during WWI. It is a compelling, heart-rendering, desperately hopeful story about one particular little girl (Lilly), in a family of kids, that is “selected” by her big brother Joe to naively notify the rest of the already heart-broken family that their hearts are about to be broken yet again. They have already lost one son to the war. Lilly is deemed “Piccalilly” after the delightful relish she loves of the same name.
I believe we all know someone or we are the someone (yes, me) that has had the experience of interacting with a loved one after they die be it an apparition, a dream, or even someone that passes by in the course of an ordinary day. Maybe you even follow them or try to find them, all the while recognizing it as the deep emotional grasping it is, but also grateful for the momentary relief from the pain. Like a dam, the hope backs up against it but then the dam breaks and the grief flows in again.
What is different about this story is the 'visits' are to a child and in thinking about it, no one writes about when this happens to a child. Lilly takes it as actual literal experience. Joe is home from the war! She has seen him, talked to him, he has teased her like he used to do. Listen, he is back, she exclaims to her family, though his hide and seek behavior is a bit frustrating. First he's there, she's talking to him, then he's not. Look, he just went through the gate. At one point, he even shows her how his arm is disconnected from the rest of his body (because it was blown off). She does wish he would stop playing these games and reveal himself to everyone else. There must be a reason he isn't. Unknowingly, she's building the dam behind which everyone else's hope will rise. Hope is contagious. All the while they admonish her to 'stop talking like that'. But then a fellow soldier of Joe's claims he also saw him, on the ship. They start to believe, as hope spreads its painful light throughout the community. (As the reader, I too wanted it to be true. Please let Joe be alive. Please). They can all see what it is doing to their mother, the idea of losing two sons in the war now too much as her heart breaks yet again and “she's there, but not there”. “A wife but not his” as her father also thinks. Then the hope grows, driving their mother to near fatal desperation because there is Joe, across the river, across the water, waving at her! Father tries his best to stem the hope, but it's Maude, Joe's former lover, who is able to step in, literally and figuratively, and pull the family from the brink, the brink in the case of Mother being nearly drowning when she tries to cross the water to join Joe. “Maude was not surprised by what Mother had said, secretly knowing all about Joe's appearances on the other side.” It is amazing sometimes the people that get us through.
By the time the war ends, the family has come to terms but there is a sadness that lingers.
I can't really imagine the pain of that time and I despair that many more wars have come and gone
since then and many more are yet to come because this is the tragic inevitability of the human condition.
This story was originally written for the author's mother in memory of her Nana. It is set in wartime Bolton during WWI. It is a compelling, heart-rendering, desperately hopeful story about one particular little girl (Lilly), in a family of kids, that is “selected” by her big brother Joe to naively notify the rest of the already heart-broken family that their hearts are about to be broken yet again. They have already lost one son to the war. Lilly is deemed “Piccalilly” after the delightful relish she loves of the same name.
I believe we all know someone or we are the someone (yes, me) that has had the experience of interacting with a loved one after they die be it an apparition, a dream, or even someone that passes by in the course of an ordinary day. Maybe you even follow them or try to find them, all the while recognizing it as the deep emotional grasping it is, but also grateful for the momentary relief from the pain. Like a dam, the hope backs up against it but then the dam breaks and the grief flows in again.
What is different about this story is the 'visits' are to a child and in thinking about it, no one writes about when this happens to a child. Lilly takes it as actual literal experience. Joe is home from the war! She has seen him, talked to him, he has teased her like he used to do. Listen, he is back, she exclaims to her family, though his hide and seek behavior is a bit frustrating. First he's there, she's talking to him, then he's not. Look, he just went through the gate. At one point, he even shows her how his arm is disconnected from the rest of his body (because it was blown off). She does wish he would stop playing these games and reveal himself to everyone else. There must be a reason he isn't. Unknowingly, she's building the dam behind which everyone else's hope will rise. Hope is contagious. All the while they admonish her to 'stop talking like that'. But then a fellow soldier of Joe's claims he also saw him, on the ship. They start to believe, as hope spreads its painful light throughout the community. (As the reader, I too wanted it to be true. Please let Joe be alive. Please). They can all see what it is doing to their mother, the idea of losing two sons in the war now too much as her heart breaks yet again and “she's there, but not there”. “A wife but not his” as her father also thinks. Then the hope grows, driving their mother to near fatal desperation because there is Joe, across the river, across the water, waving at her! Father tries his best to stem the hope, but it's Maude, Joe's former lover, who is able to step in, literally and figuratively, and pull the family from the brink, the brink in the case of Mother being nearly drowning when she tries to cross the water to join Joe. “Maude was not surprised by what Mother had said, secretly knowing all about Joe's appearances on the other side.” It is amazing sometimes the people that get us through.
By the time the war ends, the family has come to terms but there is a sadness that lingers.
I can't really imagine the pain of that time and I despair that many more wars have come and gone
since then and many more are yet to come because this is the tragic inevitability of the human condition.
June 18, 2020
I bought this book because I am a bit of a fan of Samantha Henthorn's humour and her Curmudgeon Avenue series.
Piccalilly, however, is written in a very different style, and while not a comedy, made me smile in several places, and also brought tears to my eyes.
This is a very serious short story about family life during World War I from a child's perspective, told in a child's voice. The delightful Lillian, known as Lilly or Piccalilly because of her love of the mustard relish, is based on the author's own Nana.
News has reached the Smith family by way of a telegram, that their second son Joe has been killed in action. They have already lost one son, William, in the war. For Joe, there is no body to bury, but accepting his death means organising a memorial service for him.
While the adults balance their grief with their daily lives, and learn that Joe has been courting a young girl, eight-year-old Lilly refuses to believe he is dead. Lilly has been seeing him everywhere she looks.
Lilly's hopes of him coming home rise when Joe's friend Sam calls at the house to say he's seen Joe on the boat and he'll stop by later for a drink with his old friend.
Joe of course is dead, but before he moves on, his ghost has come home to say his final goodbye.
Perhaps a child is more receptive to seeing ghosts. Lilly is convinced she has played with Joe and seen him in several places. When Joe finally comes to say goodbye, he leaves Lilly such a beautiful letter, helping her to accept his death but also asking her to remain hopeful for the future.
I enjoyed Piccalilly from a historical point of view; but I also enjoyed remembering what it was like to see things through a child's eyes - the sibling squabbles, the games played, the things they notice but cannot name...
I smiled when I read that Lilly knew she was in trouble when her "Sunday name" Lilian was used. It was also telling that this little girl did not know what grief or possibly depression was. Lilly described what she saw as "mother looked like mother, but was not mother".
A lovely family story guaranteed to bring a lump to your throat.
Piccalilly, however, is written in a very different style, and while not a comedy, made me smile in several places, and also brought tears to my eyes.
This is a very serious short story about family life during World War I from a child's perspective, told in a child's voice. The delightful Lillian, known as Lilly or Piccalilly because of her love of the mustard relish, is based on the author's own Nana.
News has reached the Smith family by way of a telegram, that their second son Joe has been killed in action. They have already lost one son, William, in the war. For Joe, there is no body to bury, but accepting his death means organising a memorial service for him.
While the adults balance their grief with their daily lives, and learn that Joe has been courting a young girl, eight-year-old Lilly refuses to believe he is dead. Lilly has been seeing him everywhere she looks.
Lilly's hopes of him coming home rise when Joe's friend Sam calls at the house to say he's seen Joe on the boat and he'll stop by later for a drink with his old friend.
Joe of course is dead, but before he moves on, his ghost has come home to say his final goodbye.
Perhaps a child is more receptive to seeing ghosts. Lilly is convinced she has played with Joe and seen him in several places. When Joe finally comes to say goodbye, he leaves Lilly such a beautiful letter, helping her to accept his death but also asking her to remain hopeful for the future.
I enjoyed Piccalilly from a historical point of view; but I also enjoyed remembering what it was like to see things through a child's eyes - the sibling squabbles, the games played, the things they notice but cannot name...
I smiled when I read that Lilly knew she was in trouble when her "Sunday name" Lilian was used. It was also telling that this little girl did not know what grief or possibly depression was. Lilly described what she saw as "mother looked like mother, but was not mother".
A lovely family story guaranteed to bring a lump to your throat.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews