Tales From Portlaw Volume Thirteen

This is a love story is about a travelling Romany who visits the home of Lizzy Lanigan in Portlaw during the year of 1955. Lizzy is a newly-wed, who was married a mere three months earlier. The peg-selling gypsy persuades Lizzy to have her palm read for the cost of two shillings. The Romany fortune teller then informs Lizzy that she will give birth to a girl child within the year who will be named 'Mary'. Lizzy is informed that she will give birth to a total of seven children during her life, but that her firstborn will be a 'special' child, who, when her time comes, will also give birth to seven children, of whom the firstborn will be a 'special' girl, also named 'Mary'. The Romany also reveals that the Lanigan legacy of 'specialness' will be passed down for generations, providing that mother and firstborn maintain its secret. If the secret is kept as instructed, the Lanigan family will be blessed, but if the secret is told to another; the Lanigan descendants will be cursed!
About the Author: William Forde was born in Ireland and now lives in Haworth, West Yorkshire, England with his wife Sheila. He has 5 children and is the author of 66 published books and 2 musical plays which are now available as Ebooks and paperback. One of West Yorkshire's most popular children's authors, his books were publicly read in over 2000 Yorkshire school assemblies by over 800 famous names and celebrities from the realms of Royalty, Film, Stage, Screen, Politics, Church, Sport between 1990 and 2002. The late Princess Diana read his earlier books to her then young sons, William and Harry. The late Nelson Mandela once phoned him to praise an African storybook he wrote. Others who have supported his works include 3 Princesses, 3 Prime Ministers, 2 Presidents and numerous Bishops of the realm. Former Chief Inspector of Schools for Ofsted, Chris Woodhead described his writings to the press as 'high quality literature.' Always at the forefront of change, he became the youngest Youth Leader and Trade Union Shop Steward in Great Britain at 18. In 1971, he founded Anger Management in Great Britain and freely gave his courses to the world. In the next 2 years, Anger Management courses mushroomed across the English-speaking world. In the mid-70s, he introduced Relaxation Training into HM Prisons. Between 1970 and 1995, he worked as a Probation Officer specialising in Relaxation Training, Anger and Stress Management, and Assertive Training Group Work introducing Relaxation Training groups into HM Prisons and also freely operating his Anger Management techniques, Stress Reduction Programmes and Relaxation Training groups within Educational establishments, Churches, Community Halls, Probation Offices, Hostels, Hospitals, Psychiatric Units and Old Folk's Homes. He retired early due to ill health in 1995 to further his writing career. This led him to work with the Minister of Youth and Culture in Jamaica establishing a trans-Atlantic pen-pal project between 30 primary schools in Falmouth, Jamaica and Yorkshire. William was awarded the MBE in the 1995 New Year's Honours List for services to West Yorkshire. He has never sought to materially profit from the publication of his books and all profit from their sales (approx £200,000 between 1990 and 2002) were given to charity. His latest books are published for adults under the generic title of "Tales from Portlaw".