It was never meant to happen the way it did. The push, the fall, the body just lying there, blood flowing from the back of her head. But she wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t go away.

Joanna had tried to tell Katie Collins that her sister wanted nothing to do with her. That she had sent Joanna to tell her to leave her alone or she’d kill herself, just like their mom did.

Joanna thought that would scare her. That Katie would go away when she heard that. But she was wrong. Katie demanded that her sister tell her to her face. Said she was going to meet her, whether Becca wanted to or not. Katie had spent most of her life searching for her sister and was not walking away now that she had found her.

Joanna recognized Katie’s determination, her strength. Her ability to win.

It infuriated her. She was not going to lose everything. Frantically, she moved closer to Katie, grabbed her shoulders and pushed her to the ground, cracking her head off a rock. The dark night disguised the color but Joanna knew it was blood flowing from Katie’s head. Bending down, one arm wrapped around the baby bump, she leaned over Katie’s face and felt soft breath escaping from Katie’s lips. Joanna could sense the life in front of her draining away but there was still time. She could make the call.

With one hand on her back, the other pushing the soil below her, Joanna pulled herself into a standing position, feeling the cell phone in her pocket. She looked down at Katie, the past lying at her feet. She wrapped protective hands over her bump, the future. If she did make the call, what would happen to the perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect murderer?

Joanna walked away.

A Letter from Jackie

Thank you for taking the time to read my debut novel, Familiar Strangers. If you enjoyed it, and I really hope you have, I would love to hear your thoughts via a review. Knowing what you think of the story is important to me.

The story came to me when I visited my aunt in a nursing home. People who didn’t know their own name, or that of their loved ones, could somehow move into their past and live there momentarily, like time travel. It was very stressful for the families, which stayed with me. To lose someone before they are dead must be a different kind of grief and I wanted to portray this agony in Becca’s story.

The other thought that played in my mind, was what if one of these patients revealed a dark secret from their past?

I hope you enjoyed this journey with Becca as she discovers the truth behind her own identity, the lies she has been subjected to and the strong woman she proves to be.