I shared a post yesterday about a book I wrote a dozen years ago. The book is called ‘Loving Judah’ – Judah is Aislin’s step-son and, only in his early twenties, he dies while on a gap-year holiday in India. Peter, Aislin’s husband and Judah’s father, blames her for encouraging him to go. and this tragedy makes them re-evaluate everything, including their relationships. Peter deals with his bereavement by leaving Aislin in the ruins of the house they are renovating in a small Pennine village, and travels to India taking all their savings with him. Aislin, however, is not completely alone – the week previous to Peter abandoning her, she came to the rescue of a man being mugged, bringing him home in the hope that Peter will rally and help him. The man is a stranger, and she thinks of Judah alone, in difficulties, in a strange place. The man is Bavol and having been at the centre of a terrible scandal, has left his home “broken and ashamed”.
In yesterday’s post, I mentioned ‘Loving Judah’ after hearing a programme on BBC Radio 4 about age-difference relationships, because Aislin is in her mid-forties, and Bavol is ten years younger. Although the relationship which develops between them is perfectly proper, it’s how others perceive them which is the difficulty for them. However, of course, it’s patently obvious that they do love each other, neither realising that their feelings are reciprocated. The love aspect is, I guess, a sub-plot, the main story line is loss, grief, guilt, self-blame, jealousy, revenge and of course, I do have to have a few punch-ups. kidnap, life-threatening situations and attempted murder.
When I wrote the story, all those years ago, the main thought was the idea of love at first sight – which I have once experienced, although the object of my affection was a year older than me, so there were no difficulties from that aspect – although the fact that he lived in Germany at a time before the sort of communication we have now (all done by letter then) so eventually – in fact less than a year, things drifted and we drifted apart too. The other aspect of the book is how someone comes to terms with a shameful (but not illegal) thing they have done; how they try to begin to move on from it, making amends, while never forgetting but trying to learn and accept the forgiveness which is offered,
Lois Elsden 