Beginnings are in the fabric of our souls.

Struggling to come to terms with the death of her son in a drowning accident, fifty-year-old Caitriona decides to enroll in evening class in Practical Philosophy, hoping it will provide the perfect distraction to her grief. 

There, she meets two other women, Alva and Aedmar, whose lives have been equally impacted by tragedy. 

At thirty-eight, Alva has only recently escaped from an abusive relationship, and is desperate to have a baby of her own, knowing her biological clock is ticking. Meanwhile, soon to be seventy-year-old Aedmar is struggling to balance the needs of her husband, who has Alzheimer's, and her foster daughter’s determination to find her birth family.  

As the three women get to know one another, their lives become increasingly interconnected, and they come to realise that no matter what life throws at them, the enduring power of female friendship will see them through.

Mary is a former teacher turned therapist, and is a qualified meditation coach, both for children and adults. She has always been a scribbler, and after trying her hand at everything from poetry to flash fiction, she joined a local writing group The Moat Writers, and four years later, self-published her debut novel The Live with Gusto Fund in June 2024, with a successful book launch at her local Cultural and Arts centre. Mary’s other pursuits include theatre, painting, singing, and walking her small dog, Ally. The Philosophy Friends will be her second novel.