Book review: Finding common ground in shared grief

Sheila O'Flanagan has written more than 30 novels, and now, as she approaches the age of 70, it doesn’t look like she plans on slowing down anytime soon.

• Secrets Between Friends 
• Sheila O’Flanagan
• Hachette, €15.99

Very few authors out there have a catalogue as prolific and impressive as Sheila O’Flanagan does. 

The Dublin author has written more than 30 novels, and now, as she approaches the age of 70, it doesn’t look like she plans on slowing down anytime soon.

Keeping in line with her other releases, Secrets Between Friends is a contemporary women’s fiction book that has strong female characters, and the issues they are faced with, at its heart.

Ailie, Sybil, and Rua are all widows who have found themselves isolated in life to varying degrees due to their losses. 

But a random chance encounter leads these three women, who don’t have much in common, to embark on a special friendship as they navigate their lives.

The novel begins from Ailie’s perspective, as she attends the funeral of her beloved husband Giorgio. 

The pair had been together for over two decades and met after they both went through rocky first marriages, which led them to find solace and acceptance in each other.

Giorgio’s ex-wife and his family, however, come with a lot more strings attached than Ailie’s do. 

While she hopes that she will be able to sever her ties with them after his death, she is sorely mistaken, as her daughter Flavia plans on moving to Italy for a while to work at the family’s hotel — a decision that worries Ailie endlessly.

The oldest character of the trio, Sybil, has long adjusted to being a widow after losing her husband Theo, and in her own words: “She regularly reminds herself that despite being alone, she is no longer lonely.”

But her overly nosey younger sister, Tansy, sees things differently.

She is convinced that Sybil is lonely and in dire need of male company, neither of which is true, and she has taken to meddling in her sister’s personal life. 

Despite Sybil’s protests that she is satisfied with her lifestyle and enjoys its low-key nature, Tansy is hellbent on playing matchmaker and setting her up.

Rua is the most closed-off of all the women. She keeps her secrets and her past close to her chest and is reluctant to let anyone get too close, even her own daughter, Brontë. 

Her life is still haunted by the death of her wife, Lilou, who passed away after a horrific accident. 

But after meeting Ailie and Sybil, she starts to wonder if it is time to open up her world again, at least a little bit.

All three women are capable of taking care of themselves, but sometimes it doesn’t hurt to have a small group of dependable people in your life. 

Even though they are all different in age, they still find common ground within their shared grief, and start to remember that there can be more to life than just surviving every day. 

Each of them is also incredibly aware of the world around them and the positions that women are expected to maintain to fit perfectly into a male-orientated society — something they rebel against.

“We move countries for our husbands and we take up the lion’s share of family commitments and nobody ever tells us how great we are.”

Sheila O’Flanagan’s writing fits effortlessly into a modern landscape, and the bestseller will have no problem standing out on contemporary shelves, thanks both to her stylish prose and her reputation among dedicated fans.

If you want to open your heart up and let three incredibly brave and independent women tell you their story, Secrets Between Friends could be the perfect read for you.