The sentence showed the part of the story where Marilyn is making letters for her family. She wants her brother to remember only the positive side of her. This is a paraphrase of the sentence. "She paused from time to time to think carefully on what words to say for her family, then she continued to write her letters."
Sutton Hoo is the ship burial. I am not sure about the others. I will try to figure it out though.
