Opening Lines

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Opening Lines: Series 17: Episode 1: Mussels by Sue Healy

Mussels

Episode 1

Episode 1: Mussels by Sue Healy

Series 17

Mussels by Sue Healy

BBC Radio 4 - Opening Lines, Series 17, Mussels by Sue Healy

In a Norfolk prison an Irish teacher finds herself at the sharp end of the refugee crisis.

4 Extra Debut. In a Norfolk prison at the sharp end of the refugee crisis, an Irish teacher faces a difficult decision. Read by Dervla Kirwan.

Recently arrived from Ireland, Triona takes as a job as a teacher in a Norfolk prison and finds herself at the sharp end of the refugee crisis. 

She must balance her roles as sympathetic mentor and authority figure to the prison's population of migrant detainees, many of whom are traumatised by their experiences before coming to the UK. 

But when a relationship with a Vietnamese inmate threatens her new life, she must decide which immigrant she will save: the prisoner or herself.

Sue Healy's short story selected from thousands of entries for the BBC Opening Lines 2015 initiative, our annual open submission window for writers new to radio.

Read by Dervla Kirwan

Producer: Simon Richardson

Opening Lines: Series 17

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