Another Mother's Life (50 page)

“It’s my pleasure,” Alison said. “Are you sad that he’s gone for eight weeks?”

“I’m happy because I know that at last, maybe for the first time I’ve made him happy. And anyway, I’ve got the rest of my life to enjoy with him,” Catherine said, smiling fondly. “Besides, I enjoy spending a sunrise with you, it’s becoming a regular thing.”

“Did you ever think we’d be like this again?” Alison said. “Friends, I mean?”

Catherine shook her head. “No,” she said. “No, I never dreamt that we would be friends again, but now that we are I can’t imagine a time when we won’t be.”

“And to think now our daughters are friends like we once were. Do you remember how we used to talk about that, how we said we’d always be together for all of our lives, how our children would be friends and we’d always have each other?”

“We were almost right,” Catherine said with a smile. “In the great scheme of things it hasn’t been that long that we’ve been apart. And now that the girls have found each other I suppose we’ll be together a lot more.” She turned and smiled at Alison. “It’s good to have you back, Alison.”

“You don’t know how glad that makes me feel, hearing you say that,” Alison said, her voice catching a little as she turned her face away from Catherine.

They sat in silence for a few minutes longer and then Catherine put her arm around Alison.

“Are you going to be okay?” Catherine asked her friend.

Alison looked into the rising sun so that the light drenched her face and she smiled.

“I’m going to be,” she said. “I’ve got a funny feeling that I’m going to be.”

M
ore than anything this book is about female friendship and how important it is in a woman’s life. So in that spirit I’d like to thank the incredible and brilliant women who are so crucial to my writing career. Lizzy Kremer, Kate Elton, Georgina Hawtrey-Woore, Jenny Matthews, Rosie Wooley, Sarah Darby, Catherine Carter, Kirstie Seaman, Margi Harris, Catherine Ashley, and finally an especially grateful and heartfelt thanks to Maggie Crawford, my editor and friend at Simon & Schuster. Maggie, thank you for being so wonderfully supportive and such an inspiration to work with.

F
or Alison James, moving with her family from London to her hometown of Farmington presents more than just a simple case of relocation jitters. The last time she saw Farmington, fifteen years ago, she was fleeing it—eloping with her best friend’s boyfriend. Now, blessed with three children, but uneasy in her marriage, she wonders whether the decisions of her past have led her away from the life she was meant to lead.

Catherine Ashley, nearly divorced and a mother of two, can’t help but wonder herself. Although she’s contented with her children, and friendly with her almost-ex, she finds herself returning again and again to those few weeks fifteen years ago, in which she fell deeply in love, only to be betrayed and abandoned by her most trusted friend.

When the two women find themselves once more living in the same town, they must come to terms with the choices made and damage done in the past—in the process, healing the present and clearing the way for the right futures for both of them.

For more about the author, check out her blog at rowancoleman.blogspot.com or on MySpace at [http://www.myspace.com/rowancoleman] www.myspace.com/rowancoleman.

I don’t have a great memory, except for interesting conversations I’ve either had or heard. I have a six-year-old daughter and many small nephews and nieces as well as many friends with children of all ages. Conversations between parents and their children are often the most entertaining and I draw a lot from overhearing them!

With all my books I start from a central idea, then build the characters and finally plot it. Plot is crucial, of course, but for me believable characters that readers really care about are the most important element.
Another Mother’s Life
differs from my other novels in that it is far more personal than almost any other book I’ve written. The only difference between the way I write books for adults and teens is really the length. Teen readers are just as sophisticated and demanding as my adult readers and deserve exactly the same kind of commitment and care from me. I do make adjustments in content and language, though. I think a lot about what I would want my daughter to read when she is older!

The central friendship between Alison and Catherine is based on a friendship I had as a child and young adult, set in a version of the town I grew up in. There are elements of their relationship with Marc that did happen to me, the main one being that my best friend did run away with my boyfriend when we were seventeen.

I can honestly say that I really loved writing all the characters in this book, even Marc! There is a part of me in each of them, which is half the fun of writing—you get to disguise yourself in a multitude of costumes and characters. I loved writing Catherine’s journey from hibernation back to life, and Alison’s realization that her flawed life would never be fixable became really compelling. The character that was the most fun to write and the one that made me laugh out loud was Kirsty. One day I will give Kirsty her own book, or at least a short story—I think she deserves one!

I started blogging as a way to connect to my readers. It’s always great to hear from them, to hear their thoughts and opinions. And I find it an awful lot of fun, although I am so busy writing books that I don’t have time to blog as much as I’d like to.

I always wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t think it would ever happen, so I tried the next best thing and worked in bookselling and then publishing for several years. This just confirmed my belief that becoming a published writer was really, really difficult! But I kept on writing for pleasure, taking a master’s degree in writing in my spare time, and one day I sent a story to a writing competition in a women’s magazine. A few weeks later I discovered that I had won! Winning that prize opened a lot of doors for me, and within six months I had signed my first contract. It sounds corny, but I do believe that you have to keep dreaming for dreams to come true.

I don’t think that other writers “influence” my work as such, but I certainly am inspired by and enjoy the work of many writers. The Brontës, Austen, Dickens, and George Eliot are my classic heroes, and of contemporary writers I enjoy Sophie Kinsella, Marian Keyes, Kathy Reichs, Anne Tyler, Maya Angelou, Philippa Gregory, and about a million more!