CELANDINES

You’ve probably met someone like Josie Madden.

You’ll have seen her avert her gaze as she hurries by, turned your head to look at her once she’s passed. She’s middle aged, has a sweet, anxious face and a figure you think is far too good to waste on a woman like that. Nice… but you’d be wasting your time.

Right?

Mark Latimer doesn’t think so. He’s lost his Frisbee in her garden, and true to his nature is checking her out. He decides he’s going to be the first man to show her what it’s really like.

The only thing Josie loves, apart from her son, Dominic, is taking photographs of wild flowers with her old camera. That provides Mark with his opportunity. A freelance photographer/journalist, he introduces her to modern cameras and re-ignites Josie’s passion for her hobby. He uses this as leverage to insinuate himself in her life.

Hidden mysteries about her childhood that Josie herself can scarcely recall are revealed as the story gains pace. Helping us here are the private thoughts of her mother Belinda, lying paralysed and helpless in a nursing home.

The story is told from the viewpoints of these three people, with the occasional intervention of the author. Mark imposes himself on Josie and plays her like a fish on a line. Matters come to a head when he receives an assignment in Iraq.

Other characters broaden the tale. Mark’s two boozy brothers Josh and Smurf; Mary Allen, the sex siren who sunbathes naked next door; Mark’s Spanish stepmother Almeda, who in his teens relieved him of his virginity; and Josie’s ex-husband Dorian, a nerd scientist who married Josie for her money.

Haunting the story throughout is the spirit of Josie’s longed-for daughter, the little girl who will be called Celandine.