The Watershed

by Erin Pizzey

Rachel was an only child. Motherless. Fatherless.The unwanted result of an illicit sexual relationship.Rescued and brought up by her two maiden aunts, Aunt Emily and Aunt Bea, she grew to love and trust the world. Her aunts doted on her and she never wanted for anything. Safe and secure in a sprawling country mansion with notions of romance borrowed from fiction, she was to enter womanhood unprepared and naive ... After a stifling experience at an all-girls boarding school, Rachel is desperate for companionship and has no clear views of her own.She marries Charles, a handsome, aspiring journalist and their marriage seems destined for success ... until one morning, after a passionate night of love, he confesses his deception. Charles’s faults are clear to all who know him and the rumours about him are old news. Rachel’s world is shattered.She has reached a turning point in her life ... her own particular watershed. Rachel finally breaks free of her unfaithful husband and begins a journey of self-discovery that takes her through London's highest social circles and across Europe. But will her past follow her there?Praise for the “One of those unputdownable novels, to rank in that respect beside, ‘Scruples’, ‘Princess Daisy’ or ‘Lace’ " - Cosmopolitan“As a romantic saga it has a great deal more to say about human relationships than most of the big glossy bestsellers that are foisted on us” - Over 21“Unputdownable...written by a woman whose understanding of human nature is rooted in painful reality” Cosmopolitan Erin Pizzey is a courageous and outspoken fighter for women’s rights. She founded Women’s Aid, a refuge for battered wives and is well known for her non-fiction such as the highly controversial Prone to Violence, written with her second husband, Jeff Shapiro, and its predecessor, Scream Quietly or the Neighbours Will Hear, as well as the autobiographical Infernal Child. She has written regularly for magazines such as Cosmopolitan and has completed several novels including ‘In the Shadow of the Castle’ and ‘The Snow Leapord of Shanghai’. Erin draws on a profound understanding of life and love to give us a picture of the many and varied emotions of women from all walks of life in her novels. From sexual initiation to love and marriage, the thrills and pangs of promiscuity, adultery, lesbianism, the intense pain of betrayal. But always the pursuit of blissful, enduring love. She was born in a castle in China, and spent a footloose childhood in Africa and the Middle East, before being educated in convents.Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

Genres: Fiction

482 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 17, 1983

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that Erin Pizzey is one of my heroes and has been for a long time but this is the first fictional book of hers that I’ve read. I was awake until 2 a.m. finishing the thing, which speaks volumes, but then couldn’t sleep, so incensed was I at the way women were treated and which I remember all too vividly. Sadly, as this articulates so well, that was often due to other women

[Kathi McGregor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit slow but ok story line

[Misfits farm · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Rachel, her childhood with her two maiden aunts, their background and her life from thereon in. As expected with this well- known book there was the “shock factor” of the times in which the earlier part was set in several ways. An eclectic mix of characters and bigoted remarks to (and about) women, racism and homophobia (it is mainly set in the 1960/70’s) to swinging type parties and affairs of the heart and wallet.
That said the main characters become well established and you feel for how Rachel is treated by her husband, his mother, her son and the life she has settled for- or has she? The life she dreamed about at 18 is not the same at 27 with 2 children in tow and a husband that thinks she can’t do anything as he has had the “perfect” mother.
This is well written and I wasn’t sure that I would get through it all (482 pages- 9 hours according to Kindle) however it flowed so well that I enjoyed it (and by the end I loved it) and wanted to know more about the self -discovery of this woman who had enjoyed a wonderful childhood and then found that although she always wanted a “proper” family when she got one it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be with flaws at every turn and the lack of love and understanding. An uplifting tale for those who have been downtrodden and told “cannot/ shall not / will not” .
A very enjoyable read.