She lifts her chin, she straightens up, she looks the women directly in the eye, not afraid, not intimidated. And it is because of this she knows that life is coming. She feels as though she will be torn open, just as when her babies were born. She feels her skin straining on her back, tightening. She feels the blood rushing to her head, her heartbeat loud in her ears. The pain in her back is so intense it prevents her from speaking.

They are blocking the path, she will have to ask them to move aside. If only they knew how much they have in common with her.Īs she nears the women, they stop talking and turn to her. The gates protect their children and these mother-clusters are the guardians of those children. Conscious of sidelong stares and uneasy silences, she pushes through the tension while the town quietly makes plans and draws up regulations that will make it more difficult for a woman like her to be in a place like this, for a woman who looks like her to dress as she does in a place like this. The people in this nice town think of themselves as polite and educated, so there are rarely any comments made, but they make their feelings known through the atmosphere they create. She finds herself holding her breath and increasing her pace as the gates come into sight lowering her chin and averting her eyes, she squeezes her children’s hands tighter as she delivers them to their classrooms. The daily gathering at the school gate intimidates her. She has not been in this country long, and the other mothers at the school watch her even though they pretend otherwise.

Ps i love u novel