Book of the Week

Gang of Four

When Isabel decides she needs a break, she doesn't opt for a couple of weeks in a classy resort.

What she wanted is to take a year out and leave her husband, children, grandchildren and friends behind while she backpacks across Europe. Feeling incomplete, she wants to do something for herself and, at the same time, get to know her dead mother better by retracing her journey decades ago. When Isabel tells her closest friends – Sally, Robin and Grace - of her plans, they initially think she's crazy. But soon enough each of the remaining members of the 'gang of four' are embarking on their own journeys. Sally heads off to San Francisco for a year's study, hoping also to lay a guilty secret to rest. Robin, sick of being 'the other woman', rents a country hideout, hoping for time to heal and to make plans for her future. Grace, the sensible one, isn't sure she needs to 'do' anything, but finds herself heading off for a short holiday in England - where she has to confront someone she hardly knows: herself. This story gives us an opportunity to know the four women and witness the good friendship they have. One thing for sure, when one of the friends need each other, they are able to come together.

28 July 2008