Its becos boys yr age are stoooopid and u r to great 4 them

Probably everyone on the islands owes Nina an apology. For ignoring her. For thinking she was dull. For not trying to find her interesting. For always remarking on her weight. It’s not even feminist to be thin. (Some further guidance on this point might be necessary.) Also, so much has been written already about Zoe’s father’s side of the family; what about Nina’s? The truth is, she was one of those many women who went through life in the islands without taking part in any meaningful woman-centred activity, without crossing Eva’s women’s radar (wide and generous though they thought it was); whose opinions were as harmless and unobtrusive as far-off clouds on a summer’s day. That’s what anybody would have said, had they been asked about her, without actually asking her first. After first, most likely, asking, Who?

Naturally, Nina herself considered her interior life every bit as rich and rewarding as the exterior part. For example, there were boyfriends, who came and went, generally causing more hassle in the end than they were worth, and normally running up against the exacting standards of Ruth before they became too entrenched. Were it not for the friends she had had since childhood, the romantic flux she experienced might have caused her more bother. But often, listening to Natalie, Emma and Lizzie complaining about their husbands and live-in boyfriends in the pub, she felt relieved to be free of all that. The way they described it, these men were shockingly unhygienic. Once a year the friends went as a foursome to Glasgow or Newcastle, availing themselves of a midweek deal to stay in a hotel in the centre of town, shopping their way around Metrocentre or Princes Square in the morning and going to a Kylie concert in the evening. Nina didn’t cultivate new friends in general; she had no need to. Her job was a bit boring, but really it was OK. The one person she had no time for in the islands was Eva.

JUDGE: Now that you know what you know—

NINA: I don’t know anything. Never did.

JUDGE: Eva was Zoe’s grandmother.

NINA: Not mine, though. What can I say? I didn’t know anything about any of it.