Better Strangers (Written in Water Book 2) by Lesley Hayes
Cordelia, Beatrice, and Rosalind are back! Having survived their variously traumatic teenage years, we catch up with them at twenty-seven and live with them until they attain the “life begins at forty” milestone. All three women are intriguingly recognisable, true to themselves. Thinking back over Better Strangers, I should have foreseen everything, but Lesley Hayes is mistress of the art of hiding the obvious in plain sight.
Ms Hayes also has the uncanny knack of raising questions in her readers minds about their own lives. “Should I have –” “Would it have been better if –” “Was this the road I’d choose if I could start over?” Personally, I don’t know the answers; I see life in black and white, not forgiving shades of grey. I tend to turn “where there is discord, may we bring harmony” on its head, and I could say the same of Cordelia, Beatrice, and Rosalind.
Is the sequel better than Exits and Entrances? As in life, some characters make their final exit, others their first entrance, and all are a fascinating mixture of their genes and upbringing. Both books are intellectually demanding to read, and the answer to my own question is I shall await, impatiently, book three in the Written in Water trilogy.
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