The Better Woman
Author: Ber Carroll
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Price: $22.99 (paperback)
Across the miles
Sarah Ryan and Jodi
Tyler are two girls growing up on opposite sides of the world –
one in Sydney, one in Cork. Neither of them is aware that the decisions
they make will lead them to New York years later vying for the same job.
For both women
this end represents how far they have come to triumph over the tragedies
of their pasts. The Better Woman follows these women through
their lives as they move back and forth between Ireland and Australia
seeking adventure, change of lifestyle or career, and new beginnings.
Sarah, orphaned from a young age, grew up in a remote village in Cork under the care of her grandmother. John Delaney, the boy next door, was her best friend, her first love and the one who broke her heart.
Jodi Tyler grew up on Sydney's Northern Beaches amidst a close and loving family. But a terrible secret shadowed her teenage years. Jodi survived by focusing on her sport and studies to get her away - but on her eighteenth birthday the secret is revealed with tragic consequences. Two girls from opposite ends of the world who are both trying to overcome personal tragedy and both with a burning ambition to succeed. But which one will win the ultimate prize?
Ber Carroll writes effortlessly. Her ability to develop the characters is a certain talent. The Better Woman may not be in danger of winning a Pulitzer Prize but it is chick-literature at its best. Unlike most it is not patronising, boorish or badly written but quite the opposite it is engaging, smart, and heartfelt.
This book is the result of Carroll’s fascination with with the strong links and contrasts between Ireland and Australia, what spurs people to move from one side of the world to the other, what keeps them there or draws them back home, and the notion that distance alone can solve problems and heal wounds.
Carroll was born in Blarney and is currently living in Sydney with her husband. She has written three other novels - Executive Affair, Just Business and High Potential - and has been published in five countries.