Page 57 of The Girl with the Irish Secret
Vi knew where to go, as Jack had texted her with the details of where the meeting would take place. She found the room on the second floor without any problems. Standing outside, she didn’t know if she should knock, but then simply pushed the door open and went inside, finding a small room with a round table where Liz, Jack and David, the director, were already sitting, deep in conversation. There was a screen behind them, for the video link, Vi assumed.
Jack looked up and smiled as Vi came in. ‘Hi, Violet. Thank you for coming here straight from the airport. I hope you had a good trip.’
‘It was fine.’ Vi sat down on the chair Jack had pulled out for her. ‘The usual Heathrow hell before I found a taxi. But I’m here now, so all is well.’
‘We’re all dying to hear your news,’ Liz said. She poured some coffee from a large thermos on the table into a mug and pushed it across the table. ‘Here. Coffee. Help yourself to a bun.’
Vi smiled and took the mug. ‘Brilliant. Just what I needed. Thanks, Liz.’ She took a small cupcake from a plate and ate a large bite, washing it down with coffee. ‘That’s better.’ She looked at everyone. ‘So do we wait for the writers to come online before I start?’
‘Yes,’ David replied. ‘We’ll be connected in a few minutes.’ Just as he spoke, the screen lit up and the faces of a man and a woman appeared.
‘Hi,’ the woman said. ‘I’m Monica and this is Rick. We’re ready to hear your story.’
Jack nodded at Vi. ‘So are we. You can start now, if you’re ready.’
‘Okay.’ Vi clasped her hands in her lap, cleared her throat and started to speak. ‘As you know, I went to Ireland to get a grasp of Kathleen’s character, and in doing so I managed to find an old lady who knew her as a young woman: from her days at a dance school to the height of her fame. Fidelma was the only person who knew therealKathleen and her true story, which is very different from her official image: the Irish colleen from the Emerald Isle with the red hair and Kerry accent.’
‘So that was not true?’ Liz asked, looking intently at Vi.
‘No.’ Vi paused and took a deep breath. ‘Kathleen O’Sullivan was not Irish. She was from Poland. She came to Ireland in nineteen forty-one, when she was twelve.’
There was a stunned silence while they all tried to take it in.
‘Wow,’ Jack said under his breath. ‘That’s quite a revelation. But how did she… I mean…’
‘Go on,’ David said. ‘Why did she come to Ireland?’
‘To escape the Nazis,’ Vi replied. ‘Her father had been in the Resistance in Poland. When he was killed, her mother realised she had to leave in order to save herself and her daughter. They managed to get to London, where they met a man called Brendan O’Sullivan who helped them to get to Ireland. He was from Kerry and he brought Kathleen and her mother to his farm near Castleisland. Brendan then married Kathleen’s mother in order to help her become an Irish citizen. Not difficult in those days. Actually, Kathleen’s mother was very beautiful and she and Brendan were very happy together. But that’s another story.’
‘Could make a great movie,’ Monica said from the screen.
‘Maybe,’ Jack said. ‘But go on, Vi. I can imagine the rest of it, but I’d prefer to hear it from you.’
Vi nodded. ‘Okay. Well, Kathleen’s real name was Katarzyna, which is the Polish version of Katherine. She changed her name to Kathleen when she started school in Kerry in order to blend in and not appear to be different. It might also have been because her mother was afraid that they’d be found by Nazi agents or something. I’m just guessing, but it could be true. Katarzyna also took her stepfather’s surname and became Kathleen O’Sullivan. She soon learned to speak English fluently with a Kerry accent, and seemed to truly feel Irish after a year or two at school.’
‘So she adopted a persona that she believed in herself?’ Liz asked.
‘That’s what Fidelma said,’ Vi replied. ‘And Kathleen built on that when she went to acting school. She dyed her hair that fiery red colour we all know so well and took Gaelic lessons so she could get parts in all those very Irish plays.’
‘And then she was discovered by a Hollywood agent who was looking for the typical Irish colleen,’ Liz filled in. ‘Which she really wasn’t. So that was the big secret she was harbouring all her life?’
‘Yes,’ Vi said. ‘She always felt she was a bit of a fraud. Having to hide her Polish roots and pretending to be Irish was weighing on her mind. She felt she was living a lie and the strain of that wore her down. The only two people who knew were Fidelma and Don, her husband and the love of her life. And he was apparently very understanding when she finally told him just before their wedding.’ Vi turned to the two scriptwriters. ‘So I thought we could use that story and write some scenes in that aren’t in the script now.’
‘Oh, yes,’ Rick said, looking excited. ‘It would become a whole different story. A better story with more depth and drama.’
‘That’s right,’ Vi agreed. ‘I also need to tell you that Don and Kathleen often had heated rows and fell out with each other from time to time. I think that needs to be in the script too.’
‘Fabulous,’ Monica said.
‘But it would demand a lot more from the actress playing Kathleen,’ Liz remarked, looking at Vi with a critical expression. ‘I mean… Maybe we’ll have to rethink the cast?’ She glanced at Jack. ‘Could we get another actress maybe?’
Vi’s heart dropped. This might be the end of her part in the movie.
Jack raised an eyebrow as he stared coldly at Liz. ‘And break Violet’s contract? I’ve seen some of the movies Violet’s been in. She is a hell of an actress and can certainly play the part and make Kathleen come to life much more realistically than with the old script.’ He looked at the screen. ‘Guys, we have to move fast on the rewrites. I want to see the new material at the end of next week. It has to be strong, dramatic and deep. I know it’s a tall order and it means you working overtime, but…’
‘We’re on it,’ Monica said on the screen. ‘Right, Rick?’
‘Absolutely,’ Rick said. ‘It’s worth it. We’ll rewrite some of the scenes and add two or three and maybe scrap some that won’twork now that we’re making this into a lot more than a romance. It’ll mean some all-nighters but hey, an Oscar or two is worth the slog.’
