Beginning ~ in stationary traffic

Beginning

She was going to be late for court.  She had been cutting it fine anyway, leaving chambers when she did, but Dominic had said it would only take half an hour to get there once she was through the worst of the central London traffic.  Now, however, she was sitting in a stationary queue of cars watching the clock on her dashboard click over from minute to minute.

Reluctantly Home ~ by Imogen Clark, 2021, fiction (England)

Pip Appleby seems to have it all, with her prestigious job as a human rights lawyer and her enviable London home.  But then a tragic accident stops her life in its tracks, and in an instant everything changes.  Retreating to her family’s rural farm and the humble origins she has been trying to hide, Pip is haunted by what she has done.

When she discovers the diary of actress Evelyn Mountcastle in a box of old books, Pip revels in the opportunity to lose herself in someone else’s life rather than focus on the disaster that is her own.  But soon she sees parallels ― Evelyn’s life was also beset by tragedy, and, like Pip, she returned to Southwold under a dark cloud.

When Pip and Evelyn’s paths cross in real life they slowly begin to reveal the hidden stories that are holding them back.  Can they help each other forgive what happened in the past and, perhaps, find happiness in the future?

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.