Books in the Barwell Trilogy series

It takes courage to break the ties we bind ourselves with.When Hilary and Tobiasz return from a road trip that should have taken them to Poland and Tobiasz's roots, Hilary is shocked to find a letter from a woman purporting to have information about her own mother, Phyllis.This is not the only challenge that life throws at Hilary and her friends. The bonds between them strengthen as they continue support each other.Tobiasz eventually returns to Poland alone and lays the ghosts that have haunted his own life and he and Hilary are able to forge a new life together.

We can all be open to change, whatever our age.Hilary, released from a life of bowing to her mother's wishes, has come out of her shell. Emboldened, she renovates the bungalow that she and her mother had shared. In trying to escape the resulting chaos, she ventures on a trip that would have been unthinkable while her mother was alive. Surprising herself and, delighting her friends, she finds love and the promise of happiness.

A story of loss, evolving friendship and self discovery.Hilary has never left home and at fifty-five uncomplainingly looks after her progressively disabled but feisty mother.Hilary's mother dies suddenly and she is thrown into a spiral of despair. With support from her friends she lifts herself out of her despondency, and begins to come to terms with the loss, until the discovery of a manuscript amongst her mother's things throws her into turmoil. How could she have lived with someone for so long and not had an inkling of their history?With no one else in her life, she again turns to her friends for help and in spite of their own troubles they rally round to help her through.