Release date: 7th July 2021
Sydney, present day.
Anna is released into the world after six years in prison. The entirety
of her possessions stuffed into a single plastic bag. The trauma of her
past, a much heavier burden to carry. Feeling hopeless, isolated and
deeply lonely, Anna attends an alternative support group; The Women’s
Circle. But when she touches an ancient crystal, Anna connects to a
woman she has never met, in a past she doesn’t recognise.
In
1770, a brutal regime torments the English village of Quarrendon and is
determined to keep its women apart. Young villager Aisleen desperately
seeks a way to defy the rules, reunite with her sister, and live life on
her own terms, without her husband’s permission. The stakes are high
and terror of punishment inescapable, but doing nothing comes at an even
steeper price...
While separated by generations, Anna finds
herself drawn to the spine-chilling and courageous plight of Aisleen and
Quarrendon’s women. Can their bond help her to face her past and
embrace her second chance at life?
A heart-warming and
inspirational portrayal of inner strength and vulnerability, The Women’s
Circle shows us the true power of female friendship in all its forms.
ARC received from Ventura Press/Karyn Sepulveda for an honest review
A beautiful story of women, separated by centuries, overcoming adversity and paving a way for themselves and those who follow.
Ms Sepulveda has woven a wonderful, inspiring story of female friendships, and of how when we band together instead of tearing each other down, we can do inexplicably linked, and you can't help but be a cheerleader for them both.
I feel that Aisleen's descendants could have been big movers and shakers in the Suffragette movement over a century later.
I was swept away in Anna and Aisleen's courageous stories, and once I picked up this book to start, I didn't want to put it down (darn that work thingy getting in the way of reading!)
Ms Sepulveda brings us strong, brave women who don't give up, and I can't wait to see what she brings us in the future.
