Ali Mercer

It’s a beautiful day for a wedding. White roses scent the air and the summer sunlight streams in. A spoon chimes against a champagne flute and the room falls silent. And there he is - my husband - getting to his feet to propose a toast. He’s still handsome. His new wife is next to him...

Stella follows her handsome husband Rob to the restaurant he’s chosen specially for her 40th birthday lunch. As the waiter pops champagne, Rob proposes a toast and their crystal glasses clink together in celebration. But Rob is about to drop a bombshell on Stella. He wants a divorce....

All I remember is the screeching of brakes and the sound of tires swerving on tarmac. The last thing that crossed my mind was my beautiful boy Billy, waiting alone at the school gates.... When I found out I was pregnant, I couldn’t have been happier. Ever since my own father died, I’d felt...

Nobody talks about my mother. Absolutely nobody. I have no idea what she was like. I’d always thought they kept quiet about her because they were sad. But maybe it was because they were guilty....

Your life isn’t perfect, but you’re still happy. Your husband has stuck by you, and he’s a good dad. Your daughter, Becca, makes your heart explode with love. And then, in the time it takes to say ‘bad mother’, there’s no longer a place for you in your own family....

There are two little girls in the photo. I instantly recognize myself as the small, dark-haired child in the purple dress. But who is the girl with the long, blonde hair laughing at the camera? And why is the photograph here, in a stranger’s house? When I find the tattered picture hidden away...