Postcards From a Stranger (Postcards #1)

by Imogen Clark

‘That’s how it should be. Children looking after their parents.

she doesn’t speak unless she has something worth saying and there’s a kind of inner calm about her, an element of self-possession that is very comforting.

Being married is hard work. It’s not all hearts and flowers, you know?

I have to get used to it. But, I also remind myself, I don’t have to like it.

Whatever my dad chose to do all those years ago has nothing to do with the man who needs me to help him to the bathroom.

When the anger burns itself out, I’m left just feeling sad. Incredibly, deeply sad.

She is so proud of her beautiful children but now, talking to Tilly, she can already see that her old friend won’t understand the choices she’s made, will think she has thrown her opportunities away, grown up too fast.

maybe, when times are desperate, people take leaps of faith without really considering how far they are going to have to jump to get to safety.

What makes the perfect mother? This is something that I’ve thought about a lot over the years. I’m certain all mothers do, as they try to process the crushing guilt they feel for the mistakes they believe they have made.

So condemn me if you choose, criticise my decisions, compare how you would have played my hand if it had been yours. But remember, before you rush to judgement, that all mothers are ultimately driven by the same engine, despite their differing makes and models. We are all just doing what we think is best for our children.