Francesca has not been honest when she offered her eggs to Dan. It seemed all generosity, but it is not so. When the twins, Stan and Bea, are born, Francesca thinks of them as her children. Dan and Olivia decide to move to Argentina, where Olivia's mother and sister live, and they spend there two years. Francesca is frustrated because Dan seems to avoid her, and he only sends her occasional texts. After those two years, Olivia wants to move back to the UK, but their flat has been let, and they need the rent money. So she sends an email to Francesca, asking her advice about moving to Gloucestershire, as she would like the children to grow up in the country. Francesca has another idea. Since her husband bought the stately home, Renniston Hall, and they are still working on it, she suggests Olivia, Dan and the children live in the cottage attached to the main house. Olivia is excited, and even though Dan is reluctant to agree, he has no reasons to say no.
When Francesca visits them, she loves to see the children, and she keeps thinking of them as hers. While Olivia is putting the children to bed, Francesca and Dan are left alone, and Francesca tells him that they need to talk, and she says that she does not ask for much, but she needs to see the children from time to time, and he agrees.
It seems that there is something dark in the relationship between Francesca and Dan. It seems that when they were at university, they were a couple, but something happened, and they pretended that they had always been old friends. I wonder what happened between them.
The novel also shows chapters taking place in 1959 when Renniston Hall was a boarding school for girls. Alice and Julia are best friends. Alice is glamorous, beautiful and wild, and Julia feels privileged to be her friend. Alice sneaks out of the school to meet Roy, an Irish worker who is part of the team building the swimming pool. The girls are supposed to avoid the workers, but Alice doesn't care. Julia has to cover for her, which she feels bad about, but she can't say no to Alice.
No comments:
Post a Comment