Colm Sullivan's Journal
Colm Sullivan's journey from Ireland to Maine begins the Collective Obsessions Saga.
As the first lighthouse keeper at Banshee Point, Colm records his private musings, dreams and desires as he begins a new life on the Larkin estate.
I am the first lighthouse keeper at Banshee Point, and this is my first day in Maine, on the demesne of Mr. John Larkin. He hired me a few days ago in New York City, finding me on the docks with other immigrants from Ireland. Because I worked with lighthouses in my beloved Malahide, Mr. Larkin hired me to look after his new one. He seems like a fair-minded man from the old sod, and has sympathy for us just arriving in America.
Colm also falls in love with John Larkin's mercurial daughter, Molly:
Molly is mine. She came to me last night in the cottage, alone. The ocean was beating on the shore. I was lying in bed, listening to the sounds of the sea. I did not hear her enter the room, but all of a sudden she was there, standing at the foot of my bed. She must have come in through the door leading to the porch. She left the porch doors open, and the wind blew in behind her, moving the curtains and her hair.
But he soon despairs over their secret affair:
How could I have been so wrong about Molly Larkin? I thought she was different from other well-bred women, but she is not different - she is the same, only much worse. I love a mere image, not a vibrant, passionate woman. I am bereft, like never before. I have lost the love of my life, only she was not a love at all. She was a farce, a concoction in my stupid, peasant brain. Molly is a dirty, heartless bitch, but I will not let our time together be in vain. I will make it matter, make her take notice. I swear it.
