NEW RELEASE
The Reunion - Joanne Fedler (2012)
Jo, Helen, Ereka and CJ first became friends through their mothers' group. Now their kids are heading into their teen years and the women are reuniting for a weekend away at a country home. Joining them on their weekend of wine, food, tears and laughter are some of their friends - anthropology professor Maeve; Zumba fanatic Summer who's on to her third husband; and location scout Virginia, the only unmarried and childless one of the group. Jo is determined to stick to her strict dieting regime and try to stop worrying about her kids for just a moment. Mother of four Helen has a much more laidback attitude to life. Meanwhile Ereka, the mother of a disabled child, has stacked on the weight. And CJ is a divorced lawyer who is revelling in her new relationship. The weekend away exposes tensions, secrets and intimacies as the group face up to the truths of growing older.
The Reunion, by Australian author Joanne Fedler, looks at what happens when a group of forty-something women reunite for a weekend away, leaving behind husbands, kids and chores. The summary says: "It's been ages since Jo, Helen, Ereka and CJ first became friends through their mothers' group - back then, life revolved around their small children. Now their kids are pre-teens and teenagers with attitudes, iPods and raging hormones, and life is feeling emptier for some mothers, more liberating for others. While away together in an old country house with a couple of new friends and plenty of wine and food, it's not long before the women are discussing men, marriage and parenting, sharing intimacies and confiding vulnerabilities. Friendships are put on the line as the bonds between them are tested and the weekend takes some unexpected turns." The Reunion is out in May. Fedler is the Sydney-based author of Secret Mothers' Business.