Wives and Mothers
By Jeanne Whitmee
Shy, seventeen year old Grace is swept off her feet when she meets Harry, an up and coming musician in a dance band.
With her father a strict Catholic, Harry is a breath of fresh air, giving Grace a taste of excitement ouside the confines of her rigid upbringing.
But when her tyrannical father reacts with violence to their friendship, Grace runs away to London with Harry to begin a fresh start.
Her damaged past has scarred her heavily however, and she finds herself unable to open up to Harry.
Visions of her father haunt her with each romantic embrace, leaving Harry feeling rejected and undesirable.
When he meets a glamorous woman with similar interests to him, Grace is left to raise their only daughter, Elaine, on her own.
The separation does wonders for Grace’s own career, where she discovers that she has a flair for selling new fashion clothes.
Whilst her boutique business thrives however, her private life is lonely and void of excitement.
In order to protect her daughter from the same horrors she encountered, Grace is over-protective, resulting in Elaine unable to open up to her mother.
When Elaine meets the Carne’s, she is dazzled by their relaxed attitude to life, finding the freedom a sanctuary away from the small flat she shares with her mother.
Before long, Elaine falls deeply in love with the elder son, Patrick, but things go badly wrong, and Elaine is trapped in a loveless marriage, with her daughter Tricia, becoming her main and only focus.
Through Grace, Elaine and Tricia, a heartwarming family saga is revealed, reflecting the achievements and setbacks of three generations of woman.
The relationship between each character plays an important role in their lives, with each being given a second chance for love and friendship.
Jeanne Whitmee began her career as an actress but soon decided that her true vocation lay in full-time fiction writing. She has since written over 25 novels and a number of short stories, and resides in Cambridgeshire with her husband.
