Things in common

A husband's death brings together three school friends.

- BY SUE REIDY

Set entirely in the fictional Irish town of Ballyboyne, this New Zealand-published novel charts the journeys of three women in their late 40s: Erica, Juliet and Maeve. When Erica's husband Rory - also Juliet’s secret lover - drops dead of a heart attack at 49, it catapults the women into a reappraisal of their lives and futures.

Juliet has travelled back to her hometown from Auckland to farewell her long-distance amour, with Ruby, her 17-year-old daughter, in tow. Juliet’s been obsessed with Rory since their early teens, when they were part of a tight little friendship gang together with Maeve and Dan. But it was perfect, blonde Erica, attracted to Rory romantically rather than sexually, and not Juliet, he chose to marry.