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Kate, Rose and Pascalle are thrown together because they share one experience – they have each lost their husbands. Shocked and bewildered, all three try to work out what it means to be suddenly alone with no partner, no security and their entire future wiped out.
If that wasn’t enough, they are also faced with family conflict, elderly parents, and a support network that turns out to be sadly lacking. And for each woman, secrets from the past threaten to derail their attempts to move on.
*On the surface, Kate’s husband Jason was fun-loving and generous. Only she knows differently. In the months after his death, her attempts to rid her life of the things that trigger bad memories are also driving her son away. By keeping Jason’s secret is she in danger of losing her son as well?
*Rose and Richard were soul mates. Married straight out of university, they shared a career, a business and a love of the good life. Childless, they lived only for each other, or so Rose thought. That all changed the night Richard was killed in a car crash.
*Once spirited, vibrant and flamboyantly French, Pascalle is now a grey shadow of herself. Her husband Trevor’s death has left her so emotionally paralysed, she can’t accept that he’s gone. Then her daughter offers her a chance to create a new life for herself. But will past secrets emerge to hinder her decision?
We follow Kate and Rose through their first year without their husbands. As their friendship with Pascalle grows they encourage each other to be brave, to take control of their lives, and to begin to heal. They draw on past mistakes to help each other build new relationships with their families. And by trusting each other, they realise that true friendship can point the way to a new future.
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Extract from Friends for Life by Liz Murphy for Celticlady’s Reviews
Kate, Rose and Pascalle have recently met at a drinks party where they were reluctant guests. All three have been struggling to cope with the deaths of their husbands, and each sees in the other women who understand exactly what they’re going through. They’ve arranged to meet again at a café to chat more. Pascalle, who’s been unable to move on from the death of her husband Trevor four years ago, has just had a dream where he tells her it’s time for her to let him go…
Pascalle had been sitting quietly listening to Kate and Rose, and when they finished she took a deep breath and lifted her head as though she’d made a difficult decision. ‘Can I tell you ladies about a dream I had? I haven’t shared this with a soul.’
Rose and Kate both nodded at the same time. ‘Of course, say anything you like,’ encouraged Rose.
Pascalle began the story of her dream and ended with Trevor’s line: ‘You have to let go of the past to move into the future.’
Tears shone in all their eyes, and Kate spoke first, squeezing Pascalle’s hand. ‘There it is, your message, your sign. Trevor’s giving you his blessing to move on.’
‘Yes, and in my heart I know you’re right,’ agreed Pascalle. ‘But you see I don’t want to live without him.’
‘We none of us want to live without our husbands,’ Kate agreed. ‘But what a waste it is if we don’t. Two lives lost rather than one.’
‘If it hadn’t been for Mum I’m not sure what state I’d be in,’ Rose confessed.
‘How lovely that you still have your mother around,’ said Pascalle.
‘In a way yes, but her mind has deteriorated so much now that she doesn’t often recognise me. That’s really hard to accept. Shortly after Richard was killed it did cross my mind that there was no point in me living on. We have no children, I have no brothers or sisters. He was my everything. Then one day when I was at my lowest, I looked at my mother and she had such trust in her eyes, and I realised that I couldn’t leave her, no matter how hard it is to stay with her. So, here I still am, just getting on with it, on my own.’
Listening to Rose, Kate was struck by how in love with her husband she appeared to have been, and yet if the gossip at the tennis club was true, that love wasn’t returned. But then she conceded, you can never tell the state of a marriage from the outside. I mean, take her and Jason, no-one looking in would have guessed what was really going on there, not even their children who still had no idea about their dad.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Pascalle who’d sat bolt upright as though suddenly struck by an idea and was saying, ‘Ladies, I know how you can help me. Justine has been nagging me for weeks to join a yoga class here at the library. I don’t want to go on my own. But if you two would come with me…’ She ended the sentence with a smile.
Kate and Rose looked at each other. ‘I’ve never done yoga before in my life,’ Rose said. ‘What about you Kate?’
‘Not yoga, but I’ve done a bit of pilates, and I play tennis and swim, so I have a decent level of fitness. Anyway, how hard can it be? Pascalle, I’m in.’
Rose laughed. ‘In that case I’d better be in too. When is it, what time does it start?’
Kate spotted a notice on the café wall. ‘Looks like it’s 9am on a Friday morning. I’ll have to rearrange my work diary for that morning, but I can do it.’
Pascalle, who’d bitten into a piece of her cake, choked when she heard the time. ‘Oh no, sorry ladies, I didn’t realise it was quite so early. Are you sure you don’t mind?’
Kate and Rose laughed simultaneously. ‘I’ll let you know after the first one,’ Kate giggled. ‘I’ll Google the website and see if there are any spaces in the class.’ After a couple of seconds she found the relevant page. ‘It’s not on for the next few weeks because of Christmas, but there are spaces for the first Friday after New Year. I’m booking us on.’
‘I guess there’s no backing out now,’ said Rose wryly as she checked her watch and started to gather her handbag and jacket. ‘I’m so sorry ladies, I should be getting back to my mother.’ She stopped and looked at both women. ‘I’m so glad we’ve met. I’ve tried loads of bereavement groups but none of them has helped as much as meeting you. Speaking to you, has made me feel as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.’
‘This has been a real pleasure,’ said Pasacalle, ‘But I’d better head off too. Now I can hardly wait for our first yoga lesson!’
As they hugged goodbye, Kate felt a lightness in her that she hadn’t known for the last three months, and if she was honest, for a whole lot longer than that.
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Originally from Scotland, Liz Murphy moved to London in the mid 1980s as a features writer on Woman’s Own and since then has worked on some of the biggest weekly and monthly magazines in the country including Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful, TVTimes and Sky The Magazine, where she held senior editorial positions. Liz is also a qualified mat and reformer Pilates teacher.
The sudden death of her husband, Steve, prompted her to reassess her priorities, following which she left magazines and now focuses her time on teaching Pilates, playing tennis, working at tennis tournaments, singing in a choir and sitting on the governing body of a federation of three primary schools. She has two grown-up daughters.
https://www.instagram.com/lizmurphybooks .https://www.instagram.com/elizabethlizlizzie
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Liz Murphy writer
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