About Angela Kennedy Smith

Lena’s daughter Angela manages her mother’s estate, in addition to being a novelist in her own right. A few words from Angela on what inspired her to finish and posthumously publish her mother’s story The Pig in the Parlour follow.

My inspiration

When my mother used to share her stories with me, the newly-published story entitled the Pig in the Parlour was one. I used to enjoy listening to the Irish humour, especially Oikey the Pig, but the story never seemed to get finished. It would go back in the drawer and Mum would continue with something else, as she was often under contract to write another book. After my mother sadly passed away I eventually came across bits and pieces of the story in her old chest of drawers, where she used to keep some of her manuscripts.

I started to wonder how she would have finished this story and no idea would come to me. I tried to remember if she ever talked about an ending, as she often did with books, but nothing for this story would come. It was not until I had “time to stand and stare”, as my mother would say, that I went back to the story to find an ending. I thought about the characters and there was a reference to one speaking “Hindustani”, and saying “he had been in the Irish Guards in India”. I recalled a relative who died out in India during the war. He was young and brave. I remember how my mother was, at one time, sent out to Ireland by her publishers to publicise her latest book release. There was a party put on by the publisher, who invited members of the Kennedy family, and it was wonderful for Mum to meet again her long lost cousins.

It was this trip back to her roots that inspired her to write the story, and the atmosphere of Ireland and its characters stands out from the pages. It was when I found a photo of a young man sitting proudly on his horse with an Indian headdress – it looked like he was guarding a palace – that the completion of the story fell into place.

Stories of Spain by Angela (writing as Ursula Kennedy Smith)

Angela has published two stories so far, Queen of the Harbour and The Costa Calamities. Find out more about these titles by clicking the covers below.