The Yellow Coat, by Marcia Dellimore

An original novel extract set in the twentieth century.

Grace Alleyne had been standing at the barrier at Southampton since eight o’clock, although the ship was not due to dock until eleven. She had told the ward sister she was unwell, which was the first lie she had told in five years in England, and she found she did not care. In her handbag was a photograph of a girl of four in a white frock, squinting at the sun in her grandmother’s yard in Port of Spain. The girl in the photograph would be nine now. Grace had worked out the arithmetic a hundred times on the night shift, as if the numbers might come out differently.

When the gangway came down, the passengers poured out in their best clothes, with hats and cardboard cases and parcels tied with string, and every child was the wrong child. Grace’s heart rose and dropped, rose and dropped, like a bucket in a well. What if she did not know her? Worse, what if the child did not know her, and looked at her the way you look at a stranger who has called your name in the street?

Then a thin girl in a yellow coat stopped at the bottom of the gangway, holding the hand of a stewardess. She had a label pinned to her lapel. She had Grace’s mother’s chin, stubborn and lifted, and she was searching the crowd with an expression so serious that Grace laughed out loud, a strange cracked sound that made the man beside her turn.

‘Celestine,’ she said, and then she was shouting it, pushing past the barrier, past the porter who tried to stop her, past everything.

The girl did not run to her. She stood quite still and looked at Grace’s face, as if she were checking it against something she carried inside. Grace knelt on the wet boards in her good stockings and waited. Five years, she thought. I can wait five seconds more.

‘You are smaller than in the letter,’ Celestine said at last.

Grace laughed again, and this time it came out whole. ‘And you,’ she said, ‘are much, much bigger,’ and the girl stepped forward into her arms as if she had always known the way.

How does the writer show Grace’s thoughts and feelings as she waits for and meets her daughter?

You should consider:

what the writer says about Grace
the writer’s use of language to show her thoughts and feelings

You must refer to the text to support your answer, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.

The Yellow Coat, by Marcia Dellimore

An original novel extract set in the twentieth century.

Grace Alleyne had been standing at the barrier at Southampton since eight o’clock, although the ship was not due to dock until eleven. She had told the ward sister she was unwell, which was the first lie she had told in five years in England, and she found she did not care. In her handbag was a photograph of a girl of four in a white frock, squinting at the sun in her grandmother’s yard in Port of Spain. The girl in the photograph would be nine now. Grace had worked out the arithmetic a hundred times on the night shift, as if the numbers might come out differently.

When the gangway came down, the passengers poured out in their best clothes, with hats and cardboard cases and parcels tied with string, and every child was the wrong child. Grace’s heart rose and dropped, rose and dropped, like a bucket in a well. What if she did not know her? Worse, what if the child did not know her, and looked at her the way you look at a stranger who has called your name in the street?

Then a thin girl in a yellow coat stopped at the bottom of the gangway, holding the hand of a stewardess. She had a label pinned to her lapel. She had Grace’s mother’s chin, stubborn and lifted, and she was searching the crowd with an expression so serious that Grace laughed out loud, a strange cracked sound that made the man beside her turn.

‘Celestine,’ she said, and then she was shouting it, pushing past the barrier, past the porter who tried to stop her, past everything.

The girl did not run to her. She stood quite still and looked at Grace’s face, as if she were checking it against something she carried inside. Grace knelt on the wet boards in her good stockings and waited. Five years, she thought. I can wait five seconds more.

‘You are smaller than in the letter,’ Celestine said at last.

Grace laughed again, and this time it came out whole. ‘And you,’ she said, ‘are much, much bigger,’ and the girl stepped forward into her arms as if she had always known the way.

How does the writer show Grace’s thoughts and feelings as she waits for and meets her daughter?

You should consider:

what the writer says about Grace
the writer’s use of language to show her thoughts and feelings

You must refer to the text to support your answer, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.

1 Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing

Question 78

Markscheme

1 Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing

Question 78

Markscheme

1 Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing

Question 78

1 Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing Questions

1 Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing

Question 78

1 Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing Questions