Reviewed by Emma Crowley
When Alice's husband Ben dies suddenly, her world falls apart. They shared twenty years and two daughters and life without him is unimaginable.
Having lost her parents while young, Alice understands her girls' pain. At fifteen, Jools is at that awkward age and only Ben could get through to her. And eleven-year-old Holly looks for the answer to everything in books but this time she's drawing a blank. Alice realizes that for their sakes she must summon up superhuman reserves of strength.
Somehow all three of them come through the dark days. In time, it's even possible for Alice to consider marrying again, with the girls' blessing. So when Ben turns up after three years, her world is again turned upside-down. The girls assume that their family can go back to the way they were. Alice is not so sure.
Once more Alice has to find the strength to be the mother her daughters need her to be. But this time what that means is far from clear...
Reviewed by Emma Crowley
The Devlin sisters rely on each other - but some things are just too painful to share, even when your sisters are your best friends ...
Mum-of-four Julie thought that if her family had more money, life would be easier. But now that they've inherited a fortune, her problems are only starting.
Lawyer Louise is used to having life go exactly as she wants it to. So accepting that she cannot control everything in her world is beyond her.
And former model Sophie can just about cope with getting older - that's until her ex-husband finds a younger model.
All three women think that some battles are best fought alone. Maybe they need to think again...
Reviewed by Danielle Pullen
Sophie is a happy 18-year-old living in London with Anna, her Irish mother. Anna has devoted her life to Sophie. It may be just the two of them but Anna has more than enough love to give. Sophie has everything she could ever need.
Laura is a not-so-happy artist. She too has a daughter, Mandy. But Laura is haunted by the loss of her first child, Jody. Happy-go-lucky as she is, Mandy lives in Jody's shadow and wonders why her mother can never let go.
Both mothers carry secrets and cannot forget the day their paths crossed. But a chance discovery is about to bring everything into the open and mothers and daughters, love and lies, past and future, will spectacularly collide.
Emma and James Hamilton have weathered lots of storms in their ten-year
marriage. From the heartbreak of infertility, to the craziness of then becoming
parents to two babies in one year, to coping with James losing his job, somehow
they have always worked as a team.
However, the pressure of moving from Dublin to London for James's new job -
away from familiar surroundings and the family Emma loves - puts them under
stress like never before. So when James starts getting texts from a stranger -
texts that show startling insights into their lives - Emma is not sure what to
think. She is far from home, isolated and before long finds herself questioning
everything about their relationship.
Maybe those texts are telling the truth and the life she believed to be solid and secure is just a mirage. Somehow she has to get a grip, but how can she do that when a stranger is set on driving Emma out of her home and marriage!
