City of Belmont - Ruth Faulkner Public Library

Becoming Beth, Meredith Appleyard

eng

no index present

fiction

Becoming Beth

Meredith Appleyard

Since adolescence, 58-year-old Beth has lived her life with blinkers on, repressing the memory of a teenage trauma. Her mother, Marian, took control of that situation, and of all else in their family life - and as much as she could in the small town of Miner's Ridge as well. Now Marian is dead, and Beth, unemployed and in the middle of a humiliating divorce, is living with her gentle-hearted father in the family home. Beth feels obliged to take over her mother's involvement in the local town hall committee, which becomes a source of new friendships, old friendships renewed, and a considerable amount of aggravation. Researching town hall history, Beth finds photographs that show Marian in a surprising light; sorting through Marian's belongings, she realises that her mother has left a trail of landmines, cruel revelations that knock the feet out from under her supposed nearest and dearest. Beth struggles to emerge from the ensuing emotional chaos ... in middle age, can she really start anew?

adult