Hello, Elle!
My memory is a bit erratic, too!
One very sad story from my book.
Richard van Emden used to pass this large house in Reading every day and thought nothing of it, until he discovered that it had belonged to a man called Leonard Sutton.
He discovered that Mr Sutton owned Sutton Seeds.
Have you heard of them? They sell little packets of flower seeds.
B&Q used to sell them.
Anyway, Mr van Emden discovered that Mr Sutton had a wife and five sons, then a daughter. His wife died, possibly giving birth to their daughter. Now, Mr Sutton was left with six children under ten years old.
Later, the Great War started, and Mr Sutton's five sons joined up and each became an officer.
Four of Mr Sutton's sons were killed in the war, and the fifth son was wounded, but survived.
Just imagine having four sons killed?
Mr van Emden has dedicated this book to the four sons.
Mr Sutton went on to become mayor of Reading three times.