A Cliftonville nan who has created short stories and novels for some three decades was presented with her first published novel on her 90th birthday.
Annina Wooding has created numerous short stories and some six novel length tales but happily kept them at home for friends and family to read – until daughter Jeanette, granddaughter Natasha and other family members persuaded her to go into print.
Annina, who was born in Italy but came to the UK as a two-year-old with her parents just before the outbreak of World War Two, says she writes just for the pleasure of it.
The mum-of-three, nan-of-six and great-nan-of-three said: “I just enjoy doing it. I have always written bits and bobs but never did anything with them. I’ve written short stories and longer novels. When I start something I like to keep at it.”
On her 90th birthday in February, Annina was thrown a surprise party and presented with a published edition of her novel, Serafina’s Journey.
The story is set in the shadows of war-torn Italy in 1944. A young widow named Rosalba Cimino risks everything to rescue Adam Leighton, an injured English soldier, from the German-occupied mountainside. Her bravery comes at a devastating cost; she is executed by the enemy, leaving her four-year-old daughter, Serafina, alone and hidden in a farmhouse attic.
Years later, Adam returns to Italy to fulfil a promise and finds Serafina living a life of drudgery under an abusive uncle. He rescues her once more, funding her education at a Roman convent and eventually marrying her to secure her future in England. Their hard-won happiness at Pennington Hall is shattered when Adam dies in a tragic car accident, leaving Serafina a young widow haunted by the ghost of her past.
While grappling with her grief, Serafina returns to the Italian landscapes of her youth, where a chance encounter with Matthew Deering sparks a new, confusing desire. To find love a second time, Serafina must navigate social rivalries, professional challenges, and the deep-seated guilt of letting go of the man who saved her.
Daughter Jeanette says her mum’s writing is “very descriptive and immersive” and is backed by meticulous research for historical accuracy.
Annina, who came to Margate after she married and helped her mum run a guesthouse in Godwin Road before going on to work at the town’s M&S, says she enjoys writing as it means she is “being taken into another world.”
At her surprise birthday party, Annina held a mini book signing. On getting her newly published book, she said: “It was amazing.”
When she isn’t writing Annina enjoys some retail therapy and keeping her garden in order.
The family are now looking at publishing more of Annina’s novels.
Serafina’s Journey can be found on Amazon or Annina’s dedicated website at https://anninawooding.com/
