When I started writing Breaking Eggshells, I was a few years post-divorce and living with a new partner (now my husband!). So writing about a woman whose former husband has dropped the bombshell of his infidelity, a woman who has to re-examine her life and values, was a natural thing for me to do.

Yet quickly my principal character Amanda developed a life of her own, and although there are elements of her journey that reflect mine, the story became wholly hers.

Amanda is in her mid-forties and doesn’t realise quite how much she has lived in a fog of denial during most of her marriage. For so many women, this isn’t fiction. It’s how their lives are because they have children and responsibilities and because it’s easier to continue with the life they know, even if it is completely unfulfilling.

The past can trip us up

For Amanda, her wake-up call leads to the realisation that the life she had expected to lead as a young woman had sunk without trace. Of course, we all have to adapt as the path we follow takes twists and turns; it’s probably unrealistic to expect the idealised version we often have of our future as youthful women to materialise. But, I believe we all have a basic right to live in a way that we can be ourselves, express our thoughts and feelings freely, and love and be loved. Sadly, for many women (and men) that state of being can slip gently away without us noticing.

It was important to me to write not just of Amanda’s despair but of her recovery and her hope for the future. I wanted to show that even if you think you may drown, sometimes a major burst of energy can propel you back to the surface, where you can gasp the fresh air and begin again.

In the book, Amanda examines not only her marriage but her relationships with family. Another of the narrators is her sister Maddy, who has a very different outlook on life, and her Aunt Julia. Julia has dealt with the odd family dynamics in her own way and acts as a catalyst for Amanda’s decisions and her determination to lead the life she should have.

Being honest with ourselves and others

I’m sure that anyone reading Breaking Eggshells will recognise the patterns of behaviour that can infect all of us. Deceit, selfishness and manipulation are like cards, a game played by those who are too self-centered to understand the effect they are having on others. We also have to be bold enough to examine our own behaviour. We are all capable of using emotional pressure to get our own way and everyone can, and does, act selfishly from time to time.

But the book sets out to show that with a little support from the right people, a dash of courage and an open mind, we can repair even the most damaged hearts.

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©Liv Andrews 2021