Ruby and Pearl is a lighthearted look at a Mother and Daughter whose day to day life is entwined within the quiet, unassuming neighbourhood they live.
Filled with equal measures of intrigue and humour, Foxley Grove is a cul-de-sac of 6 houses in rural England where each colourful character tells its own story.
Max the charming, attractive lothario. Anne and Harvey the quintessential upper mid century, middle class couple. Millie the crazy dog lady. Sniper the tattooed biker with an aristocratic past. Rounded out with Pearl who has returned home to help her Mother, Ruby.
The mysteries that unfold will keep you turning the pages to uncover their journey.
Ruby and Pearl by Freida Daniels was published in July 2021. I am delighted to welcome the author here to Random Things today. She's talking about who she came to write Ruby and Pearl.
I have always enjoyed writing and like many people thought I'd like to write a book one day.
I jotted ideas down on scraps of paper which would float around, until rescued and squirrelled away, in my handbag.
Eventually I realised the only way to get the job done was to actually type Chapter One and begin at the beginning.
Having the idea for the story is the easy part, making that into 80,000 plus words not so much.
Books are long!
I wrote on weekends, my goal being one chapter per day and became very invested in my cast of characters. I could picture them all and felt part of their lives.
The feedback I've received from readers is about how visual it is and how they too feel as if they know all the people populating the fictitious town. I'm proud of that.
My eventual driving force came from observation of human nature. We are all good at feeling guilty when resentment creeps in when we have to dedicate our precious time to others.
In 2014, when I wrote the story, there seemed to be a lot of news around relatives having to care for loved ones with Alzheimers and just how taxing that was. It got me thinking that it translated to all kinds of relationships, if you are responsible for another person you are giving up a part of your time, your life.
How many mothers have time for themselves?
I deliberately made the character of Ruby very affable and easy going to show that in spite of her being likeable and lovely she still drives Pearl crazy.
The mother and daughter dynamic is the heart of the book, written to be light hearted with a sideline of mystery.
My hope is that whoever reads it will feel better about themselves afterwards. That's my message and my wish.
Pearl may seem, to an observer, to be impatient and it's easy to judge her for it but the book is written from her perspective and you can get to know her well.
My heart goes out to young carers.
Little mites having adult roles thrust upon them while having to navigate school life and growing up with all the added responsibilities and stresses.
That's why part of each sale is going to them. My plan is that certain dates will give 100% to the charity, while 20% is the norm.
I had only planned to do one book but found I couldn't stop there. My fictional family wouldn't leave me so I wrote book number two. I have now started on book number three and it really will be the last.
I didn't grow up with social media, so having finished book one, Ruby and Pearl, it sat on my laptop for six years. It turns out that writing is the easy part!
As a therapist I have an ability to wholly feel what my clients feel and their emotional make up. I feel it as if it's happening to me, it's how I can understand them and how I can direct the treatment.
I hope I brought this ability to my writing.
The wonderful thing about humans is, we are all the same. We have the same range of emotions, it's just that we are not all experiencing the same ones at the same time.
Choose to feel good about you.
Freida Daniels - September 2021
She appreciates the beauty of English countryside, more so, from having lived so long without it.
Freida enjoys anything esoteric and mystical and worked for many years as an alternative therapist.
Ruby and Pearl is her first book.
www.freidadaniels.com
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