Synopses & Reviews
Margaret Forster's twenty-sixth work of fiction is a subtle, psychologically probing of personal history, guilt, and redemption. Julia, a troubled and isolated child with few friends, is tormented by the irreperable damage she believes she has caused her family during a seemingly innocuous outing with her cousin's newborn hild. Haunted by guilt and anxiety, she becomes a child psychologst and, later, a magistrate. Yet as The Guardian notes, "It's a gripping read without being a thriller because we are drawn ineluctably into something darker that we sense is always floating just beneath the surface of what Julia chooses to tell us." Executed with razor-sharp control and remarkable confidence, Forster's novel is a powerful case study on the consequences of self-deception and the unforeseen effects it can have on he rest of our lives.
Synopsis
When eight-year-old Julia was asked to be a bridesmaid at her beautiful cousin Iris's wedding, she was thrilled. Nothing, not even her mother's resentment of the expensive, inconvenient trip, could dull her excitement. But, when the day finally arrived and she took her cousin's baby on a secret stroll around the block in his pram, her entire world shifted. She couldn't possibly know the impact the fateful trip would have on her future.
A lifetime later, Julia is a child psychologist working with young girls at risk. In her sessions, Julia has a knack for determining which of her young patients are truly troubled, and which are simply at ther mercy of the oppressive adults around them. Margaret Forster weaves a quietly powerful story of the relationship between past and current reality--when Julia's own troubled childhood begins to invade her present and she is forced to confront her relationship with misplaced guilt, the possibility arises that the truth of her past may not be as devastating as she has always feared.
Forster's subtle writing proves the perfect compliment to the darkness of Julia's past, as she tells a story of maturation, reconciliation, and one woman's psychological evolution. The Unknown Bridesmaid explores personal history and familial bonds, guilt and redemption, to reveal that even the seemingly average life is anything but ordinary.
About the Author
Margaret Forster was born in 1938 and studied history at Somerville College, Ovford. She is the author of many successful and acclaimed novels, including Georgy Girl (made into a popular movie and Broadway musical), Lady's Maid, and Diary of an Ordinary Woman, as well as two bestselling memoirs (Hidden Lives and Precious Lives) and biographies, including the award-winning Daphne du Maurier: The Secret Life of the Renowned Storyteller. She is married to the writer and journalist Hunter Davies.