The unknown bridesmaid - Margaret Forster

When eight-year-old Julia was asked to be a bridesmaid at her beautiful cousin Iris's wedding, she was thrilled. Nothing, not even her mother's resentment of the expensive, inconvenient trip, could dull her excitement. But, when the day finally arrived and she took her cousin's baby on a secret stroll around the block in his pram, her entire world shifted. She couldn't possibly know the impact the fateful trip would have on her future.

A lifetime later, Julia is a child psychologist working with young girls at risk. In her sessions, Julia has a knack for determining which of her young patients are truly troubled, and which are simply at ther mercy of the oppressive adults around them. Margaret Forster weaves a quietly powerful story of the relationship between past and current reality-when Julia's own troubled childhood begins to invade her present and she is forced to confront her relationship with misplaced guilt, the possibility arises that the truth of her past may not be as devastating as she has always feared.

Forster's subtle writing proves the perfect compliment to the darkness of Julia's past, as she tells a story of maturation, reconciliation, and one woman's psychological evolution. The Unknown Bridesmaid explores personal history and familial bonds, guilt and redemption, to reveal that even the seemingly average life is anything but ordinary.