publication date:  Good Friday 2025 (April 2025)

Between Heaven and the Sea — an Irish travel diary

(a novella)

Historical fiction set in 1998. After losing her job and home due to her husband's scams, Isabelle-Rose, a devoted mother living in a small French town, decides to embark on a journey to Ireland to visit her daughter, Emma. What begins as a simple visit evolves into a profound and transformative experience. Between Heaven and the Sea : An Irish travel diary A invites readers to find moments of quiet reflection for themselves and to embrace the magic of the unknown

This novella is inspired by a personal anecdote from 1998. That year, friends and I attended a music festival in Galway (Garbage, Cornershop and others). On our way back to Belfast, our old Lada broke down near Croagh Patrick, close to Castlebar. After a few days of impromptu camping, we finally made it home in a Fiat Panda. These memories evolved into a fictional story.  This project has been with me for decades. As early as 1998, the idea of turning this adventure into a piece of fiction began to take shape. By 2003, I had set it in 1982 with different characters for a publication on my website. Later, it became part of my early self-publishing experiments starting in 2008. In 2020, I revisited the story, as it had the potential to express my impressions of Ireland, where I lived for 25 years. It naturally connected to the timeline of the Good Friday Agreement and was included in a series of short stories titled Voyages in 2022. In 2024, when Voyages was restructured into The Tailor of Granville this story stood alone, as it no longer aligned with the chronology of my new novel (1937-1947). It gained new scenes set at Mont-Saint-Michel, inspired by my visit there in 2021. As such, the text ties together textile craftsmanship, significant locations, and spiritual elements that resonate deeply with me.

For me as an agnostic,  spirituality goes beyond religion. It is a cultural and deeply personal exploration. Monuments and beliefs tell stories, balancing superstition, faith, and magic.

fictional characters

Isabelle-Rose Corbel -  a woman from Caudry (France)

Emma Desportes - her daughter who lives in Lisburn (Northern Ireland)

François Weber -  a French musician who lives in Dungiven (Northern Ireland)

Dalriada Hawthorn -  a Northern irish musician, wife of François

Peter Tomek  - Emma's boss, textile factory owner

Claas-Willem Oberlecht  - Dutch owner of a campsite in Co. Mayo

Sorcha Oberlecht -  Claas-Willem's wife, born in Mayo also campsite owner

Padraic Molloy - Mechanic from Castlebar

Richard Desportes - Isabelle's ex huband