Local writers Althea Farren and Lorraine Cullen will launch their new book “In Two Minds” this coming Tuesday (September 10) at 6.30pm in Arklow Library.
In this mix of fiction and non-fiction, Althea Farren and Lorraine Cullen have transmuted the raw materials of their own experiences into tales and vignettes. Set in Ireland, Zimbabwe and India, their stories and writings offer the reader vivid and often poignant insights into the mystery that is the human condition.
Althea Farren grew up on a remote ranch in Rhodesia (later to become Zimbabwe). She and her husband, Larry, emigrated to Ireland in 2007 and now live in County Wexford. They have two sons, Sean and Brian. In 2001 Althea co-authored Voices of Zimbabwe with Larry and her sister, Glyn Hunter. This was followed by It’s a Little Inconvenient: Memories of a Bulawayo Book Club (2012) and Learning to Love Ireland: An Immigrant’s Tale (2014).
Lorraine Cullen grew up in Ireland and lived for some time in New York, England and Australia before eventually finding herself in India. She has climbed mountains, sung with a gospel choir and sailed around Ireland. She lives in County Wicklow, works part-time in accounts and has a busy homeopathy practice. Writing is her latest adventure – this is her first book of published stories.
Lorraine and Althea write of beginnings and endings, entrances and departures, dilemmas and delights. Like the Roman god, Janus, In Two Minds looks back at past events and forward to the future, acknowledging that, on life’s journey, we all have the same goal: the achievement of wisdom, acceptance, courage and peace.
