Characters who fall out and then make up have been the mainstay of stories since the time we sat beside camp fires... And no plot is ever compelling unless there is competition and disagreement. Friction is not the same as violence, of course, of which there is more and more these days and not always justifiable. But a well-constructed mental or verbal fight can add just the right amount of spice to raise a tale from mundane to gripping.
In both of my books, The Girl from Simon's Bay and The Housemaid's Daughter, the heroines must confront adversity.
Ada, in Housemaid, faces physical threats during the hardest days of apartheid while Louise, in Girl, must counter subtle - and sometimes not-so-subtle - discrimination in her chosen career. And both young women have relationships which contravene the laws and conventions of the land. Friction aplenty!
Ada avoids conflict by becoming adept at negotiation, and learns to recognise its nuances. Debate is altogether different from negotiation although both involve being on the winning side... And then she acknowledges a further reality:
True negotiation is debate that involves money.
Louise tries to extract herself from dispute by proving her excellence - and by quiet deception. I kept my head down. No-one recognised me.
When does a lie become the right thing to do?
Ada, at the end of her life, bruised but still optimistic, has outlived the threats.
And so it began.
The new hope that people talked about. It ended the war.
It ended my war.
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