Right from the start, I’ll tell you I adore Audrey.
She is the most heroic of all my characters in the trilogy, a young woman who has had so little and has missed out on so much. But still she grabs life with both hands, sets her own destiny, manages to find heart-full love in her very close friendship with Leisha and Penny, and throws her arms around Jenna and Maggie as they join the friendship circle.
Audrey has had to stand on her own two feet most of her life. For someone who has not had a great deal of family love, it’s surprising that it is the thing she wants the most, and the thing that turns out to be the hardest for her to find.
I particularly enjoyed her determination to buy a house on her own, and to fill it with her own style of love.
It is through her strength and her nothing-to-lose persistence that Audrey finds herself in a place where she meets Leisha. And I am very glad she did. Where Leisha is brash, rich and rebellious, Audrey is measured, resourceful and cautious. Yet in each other they find an understanding, a respect and a kindness which nourishes them both.
I hope you enjoy the next set of behind-the-scenes episodes of Because Life, starting next Friday, with a lovely cuppa.
Joni Page 