Misha M Herwin is a Staffordshire based writer. When not writing she runs workshops for adults and children, including youth groups at the New Vic Theatre, and events such as the 6x6 Story Café for Stoke Libraries. She spends what spare time she has with family and friends, reading, working in her garden and baking. Scones are a speciality. Follow @mishaherwin on Twitter, on Facebook, Visit mishaherwin.wordpress.com
The time has come for Jane to sell the family home. Downsizing to a flat means that everything must go, but her late husband’s favourite chair is far too precious for the tip.
Meanwhile, Robyn, balancing her precarious career as a portrait artist with raising an autistic son, is searching for a chair with panache that will allow her sitters to pose in comfort.
Elsewhere in the city, Tracey is clearing out her wardrobe at the same moment that divorced and cash-strapped Debbie is frantically seeking a prom dress for her daughter.
None of these women have ever met until Freecycle brings them together and their lives are about to be changed in ways they could never have imagined.
Jane, Robyn and Tracey don't have a lot in common when you take a brief look, but their respective stories about giving something away and looking for something, is what connects them and their stories.
Freecycle is essentially recycling based on the principle of one man's junk is another man's treasure. At the core of the principle is not letting something that is still of use to someone becomes yet another item on a landfill. Instead of waiting around decades or centuries to it to hopefully degrade, perhaps that item can be useful a while longer.
The essence of this story are such items that connect us, our memories and our experiences. These items become a conduit to share emotional connections with each other. They become the thread woven between strangers, and between these characters in the story.
I liked the idea - it has this element of nostalgia, which lends a certain depth to the characters. Herwin also brings forth the differences in our reactions, when it comes to being attached to physical belongings and what each one of us believes is important. It's different for everyone. It's a message of humanity and simultaneously about how similar and different we are at the same time.
Buy Freecycling for Beginners at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Penkhull Press pub date 31 Aug. 2021. Buy at Amazon com.
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