JEWELS: Hilary Boyd

I am not a big jewellery person. I wear the odd silver bracelet and sometimes a necklace – just something chunky and cheap - when I’m trying to look smart, which is not something that comes easily to me. The only piece I wear all the time, like many other people, is my wedding ring.
But this isn’t the ring that Don gave me when we married. That first one was a beautiful David Morris design in white gold, which we commissioned ourselves. Don wore a matching one. 
The years went on, we had a family, but there came a point when our marriage reached a very sticky phase. So sticky that we separated and lived apart for nearly a year. And when we got back together, somehow those wedding rings we were wearing came to symbolize a time that had past, a time that did not sit well in the light of our new relationship.
I am not really superstitious, and I wasn’t being silly and blaming the rings for our troubles, of course. But when we were in Copenhagen, where Don was working at the time, just after we had got back together, I saw this ring made by Georg Jensen – an iconic Art Nouveau-style Danish silversmith. It’s silver and it wasn’t expensive, nothing like as much as our previous rings, but it was not a traditional wedding band. I fell in love with it immediately, however, and decided then and there that it would be a great substitute. New relationship, new ring, I thought. I have worn it ever since, consigning the old gold one to my jewellery box, where it still resides.
Buying that ring felt very significant at the time. Like the wedding vows focus your intent to be together, so the Jensen ring focused our intention to start afresh, leave our relationship problems behind. And Don and I are still together after forty-three years, so maybe it worked!


'I just thought you should know who you're married to . . .'
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Romy and Michael had it all. 30 years of marriage, two wonderful sons and a beautiful home.

Until a letter arrives containing a shocking accusation, and everything falls apart.

Fleeing to an idyllic countryside village to find time to think, Romy finds herself drawn to Finch, a handsome stranger with a tragic past. Is this a chance to start again?

But then the phone rings:

Michael is in hospital. He says he needs her help . . .

From the No. 1 bestselling author of Thursdays in the Park, The Lie will captivate fans of Susan Lewis, Amanda Prowse, and Ali Mercer's His Secret Family.

**Hilary Boyd's addictive new family drama, THE AFFAIR, is available to pre-order now**
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'Hilary Boyd nails family dynamics and misplaced loyalties with pin-sharp precision in an impressively well-written tale' DAILY EXPRESS

Readers are hooked by The Lie . . .

'Full of conflict with many twists and turns'

'A beautifully written and tense family drama'

'Totally engrossing'

'A brilliant page turner'

Praise for Hilary Boyd



'Boyd is as canny as Joanna Trollope at observing family life - and better than Trollope at jokes' Daily Mail

'Poignant, well observed and wonderfully written, this is a bit of a heart-string puller' Closer

'I was ripping through this book . . . addictive' Evening Standard

You can order The Lie here, and find out more about Hilary's work here and @HilaryBoyd