Annette Grey is an empty, broken woman who hardly
knows her own children. Of course, it’s her own fault. She’s a bad mother. An
unnatural mother. At least, that’s what her ex-husband tells her.
When the unthinkable happens, Annette makes a
decision that sets her on a journey of self-discovery and reinvention. Along
the way, her life is filled with friends, family, dogs, and jam. Lots of jam.
Suddenly anything seems possible. Even being Netta
Wilde again.
But, is she brave enough to take that final step when the secrets she
keeps locked inside are never too far away?
Purchase Links
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Being-Netta-Wilde-Hazel-Ward-ebook/dp/B0947351XQ
US - https://www.amazon.com/Being-Netta-Wilde-Hazel-Ward-ebook/dp/B0947351XQ
Excerpt
It’s
two months after Annette Grey lost her job but she still hasn’t told her parents,
or her ex-husband Colin and their teenage children. The children live with
Colin, a stay-at-home dad and unsuccessful artist. Annette still provides for
them financially, so this is a big deal.
In
the last two months she’s made a tentative start at a new life and, with her
confidence boosted, she arranges to visit her parents so that she can tell them
the shock news face-to-face. Unfortunately, her plans go awry when one of her
new friends turns up unexpectantly asking for help. After missing her parents
call, she realises that in all the rush she’s forgotten to let them know she
can’t make it. Unable to put it off any longer, she steels herself and calls
them back.
Annette comes clean.
Her dad answered. ‘Where on earth are
you? You were supposed to have been here at ten. We’ve been worried sick about
you.’
‘Sorry Dad. I had an emergency and
completely forgot to call you.’
‘What kind of emergency? Has something
happened?’
She could hear her mother in the
background. ‘What emergency? Are the kids all right?’
‘Are the kids all right?’ he echoed.
‘Yes, they’re fine, Dad. It was a
friend of mine. She had an interview and her babysitter let her down. She
didn’t have anyone else, so I’m looking after her children.’ There was silence
on the other end of the line. ‘It’s the holidays you see. Otherwise they would
have been in school and it wouldn’t have been a problem.’
‘Everyone’s fine. She just had to look
after a friend’s children. Her friend had an interview, apparently.’
It sounded as though he was holding the
phone away. She could picture the scene in her parents’ living room right now.
‘What friend, what children?’ Her
mother’s voice wasn’t much further away. She was probably standing over him.
Poised to snatch the phone off him.
‘I don’t know. Someone from work I
expect,’ he said.
‘No Dad. Not from work. This is a new
friend. She’s … new.’
‘She says it’s a new friend.’
‘What new friend? Give it to me.’ There
was a rustling as her mother wrestled the phone from her father. ‘Annette?’
‘Hello Mum. I’m sorry I forgot to let
you know I wasn’t coming. It was all a bit of a last-minute rush and it
completely slipped my mind.’
‘Well, at least we know where we stand
in the pecking order now, don’t we? We’ve been out of our minds with worry.’
‘Yes, Dad said.’
‘He’s been pacing the room up and down
for the last hour. And now we find you’ve been looking after some new friend’s
children without giving us a minute’s thought.’
‘I’m really sorry,’ said Annette.
‘If only you’d given your own children
that much attention. You might not be in the situation you’re in now.’ Her mum
had worked herself up into outrage. As always when that happened, she was more
concerned about expressing her anger than the impact her words might have.
‘Mum, you know I had to go out to
work,’ said Annette, trying not to let it get to her.
‘I’m not saying it’s your fault for
having to work so hard. Although I would never have stood for your father
shirking his responsibilities in the way some people have. But what I can’t
believe. What I can’t believe,
Annette, is that you’ve taken a day off work to look after someone else’s
children when you should be using the time to be with your own family.’
‘Well that’s just it. I haven’t taken
the day off work, Mum. I’ve been off work for nearly two months now. I’m being
made redundant.’ There, she’d said it. She waited for the backlash. She didn’t
need to wait long.
‘You’ve been, you’ve been. Oh my good
God. Speak to your father. I can’t take it in. Arthur, she says she’s been made
redundant. Two months ago. Take this. Speak to her.’
Her dad came back on the phone, ‘What’s
this? Is that right? You’ve been made redundant?’
‘Yes Dad. Well technically, I’m on
extended leave for another month. But yes, I’ve been made redundant. Usual
reasons. Structure changes. You know how it works.’
‘How awful for you love, I’m sorry. I
know how much you put into that company. They must be mad letting you go.’
‘Well then they must be mad. I’m sorry
I didn’t tell you earlier. I just found it hard to talk about, but I’m getting
over it now.’
‘You’ll be back on the ladder in no
time. Got any interviews lined up?’
‘No. I did have, but I wasn’t ready.
I’m doing some volunteering instead. At a foodbank.’
‘A foodbank?’ He sounded surprised. She
couldn’t blame him. She’d surprised herself.
‘She’s never having to go to a
foodbank, is she?’ said her mother.
‘No,’ said her dad, ‘She’s volunteering
at one. She’s not ready yet to look for a new job.’
‘Well she’ll have to make herself
ready,’ said her mother. ‘Who else is going to pay the bills?’
‘Tell Mum I’m all right for a while for
money. I’m getting a good pay off,’ she said.
‘I’ll try love. Have you told Colin and
the kids?’
‘Not yet. I thought I’d tell you
first.’
Her dad sighed. ‘Best of two evils was
it? You’re going to have to face the music and tell them you know? It’s no use
sticking your head in the sand and hoping no one will notice.’
‘I know. I need to work myself up to it
first.’
There was a long pause.
‘Well someone has to tell them. Do you
want me to do it?’
‘Oh Dad, would you?’
‘I’ll call Colin. I don’t suppose he’ll
be very happy about it.’
‘No Dad, I don’t suppose he will be.’
Author Bio
Hazel Ward was born in a back-to-back house in
inner city Birmingham. By the time the council knocked the house flat and
packed her family off to the suburbs, she was already something of a feral
child who loved adventures. Swapping derelict houses and bomb pecks for green
fields and gardens was a bit of a culture shock but she rose to the occasion
admirably and grew up loving outdoor spaces and animals. Especially dogs, cats
and horses.
Strangely, for someone who couldn’t sit still, she
also developed a ferocious reading habit and a love of words. She wrote her
first novel at fifteen, along with a lot of angsty poems, and was absolutely
sure she wanted to be a writer. Sadly, it all came crashing down when her
seventeen-year-old self walked out of school after a spot of bother and was
either too stubborn or too embarrassed to go back. It’s too long ago to remember which. What
followed was a series of mind-numbingly dull jobs that paid the bills but did
little to quell the restlessness inside.
Always a bit of a smart-arse, she eventually
managed to talk herself into a successful corporate career that lasted over
twenty years until, with the bills paid and the children grown up, she was able
to wave it all goodbye and do the thing she’d always wanted to do. While taking
a fiction writing course she wrote a short story about a lonely woman who was
being made redundant. The story eventually became her debut novel Being Netta Wilde.
Hazel still lives in Birmingham and that’s where
she does most of her writing. When she’s not there, she and her partner can be
found in their holiday home in Shropshire or gadding about the country in an
old motorhome. Not quite feral anymore but still up for adventures.
Social
Media Links –
https://www.facebook.com/hazelwardauthor
https://www.instagram.com/hazel.ward
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrmdeA7DKEXhrj6nO6l2gJw
Thanks for the feature Jasmine. I hope your readers enjoy the extract
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome! :)
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