Yes,
I think I’ve finished. I’ve completed all
edits, even the copy edit and the read out loud edit. Very last minute I’ve put another tiny
sub-plot in. A story about a kitten. Traumatised Kindertransport children often
found it easier to relate to animals than to other humans, no matter how much kindness
was shown. In fact, kindness by others often made them feel guilty. They felt unworthy,
partly because they had been labelled as a disgrace by the Nuremberg laws and
partly because they felt guilty as they were surviving whilst other friends and
relations were not.
It
was particularly difficult for Mischling children such as Renate, who felt
neither as if they were German nor English and neither were they properly Jewish
like the other Kinder.
Molly
the kitten has to be bottle fed. She is the daughter of one of the two farm cats
who gave birth within a few days of each other. Most of the other kittens feed
from either mother without hesitation. Molly seems unable to decide which cat should
feed her and is ultimately rejected by both mothers. She becomes attached to Renate
who looks after her. Molly eventually goes to live in London with Renate after
she has left school. She is initially as confused about her identity as Renate
is. But she thrives because she is loved.
I’ve
found out very recently that Renate adopted a cat while she was evacuated with the
school. She took it everywhere with her, often hidden inside her jacket. It seemed
like a thread that needed to be woven into the story. The word count has gone
up now by a couple of thousand.