In Rowland: A Heart of Sunshine, the sequel to Surviving the Shadows, author Caroline Whitehead meets her long-lost elder brother, Rowland Marshall, for the first time in 1991 when he is 72 years old. Rowland had heard about Caroline's existence when he was thirteen, but had been denied any details. He'd searched for her in vain for almost sixty years. Caroline tells Rowland of being raised as an orphan by nuns, how she was forced into war work in 1942, and of her struggle to exist on low wages and wartime rations. Her thwarted political ambitions, emigration to Canada, raising a family, and always searching for her roots...
Caroline reveals to her brother the existence of three other siblings raised as orphans - William, Kathleen and Elizabeth - about whom he was totally unaware. Rowland's boyhood vision of living with his sister Caroline becomes a reality when the two of them decide to share a home together in Canada. This realized dream continued for the next sixteen years.
Characters, events and settings that portray an era and culture that few today could imagine... Identical telepathic senses that allowed two siblings who had been complete strangers to understand each other in their later years, sharing laughter, fun and sorrow...
"My brother had a talent for putting words into verse, and he never failed to surprise me with his intelligence on various matters, including his worldly travels. He could mimic different dialogues with such gusto, and have me rolling around in fits of laughter."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Caroline Whitehead (née Marshall) was born in London, England, and raised in an orphanage in Kent. Knowing the importance of family bonds she pushed forward for forty years to discover her brothers' and sisters' identities, overcoming many obstacles so the story could finally be told. She lives in Sidney, B.C.
