Maggie - Connections, #2

Maggie Cavendish is a single mum to Stevie, who has never known her dad, and that's how Maggie wants it to stay.

Coming from a steady, stable family home herself, Maggie's world changed irrevocably when her father died, and she discovered something about him that she has never mentioned to her mum, or her twin sister.

Deemed 'the clever one' at school, expectations were set for Maggie from the outset, but what should have been a blessing often seemed exactly the opposite, particularly pitted against her popular and pretty sister Julia, and their best friend, Stacey. It's a surprise to everyone when Maggie discovers she is pregnant.

After years of living with her mum and her daughter, circumstances force Maggie to make a change, starting afresh in a small town on the coast. As Stevie settles in at school, Maggie finds voluntary work at the local seniors' club, and befriends eighty-something Elise. As other parts of her life begin to click into place – an exciting new job, and possibly a new relationship – she rediscovers her sense of self-esteem, and begins to regret not being more honest: with Elise; with her mum, sister and daughter; and with herself.

Maggie is the second book in the Connections series: a group of stories whose protagonists' lives are inescapably interwoven, in the Cornish town they call home.