Rose and Jonny are a modern couple, a career couple. They've sailed into their thirties with their London flat, their urban family, their confidence in their choices. Granted, Rose's career in photography isn't all she'd hoped it would be. And maybe she's so wrapped up in it that she hasn't noticed that all isn't as it should be in their relationship. But there's time enough to make it right, to make those decisions about marriage and family and all the grown up things they've never really found the time to discuss. But suddenly Jonny HAS found the time to discuss it. And that time is now.
On a make or break holiday to Vietnam, faced with the end of her relationship, Rose decides to embark on the one journey she'd thought she'd never make. The journey to motherhood. And that's where the real pain begins. Because what should be as natural as boy meets girl - the act of conception - proves to be frustratingly, painfully, elusive. And what began as a way to cement her relationship with Jonny becomes an all-consuming obsession that leads them from doctor to doctor, clinic to clinic: and ends in a helter-skelter ride through depression and near-breakdown. Raising fundamental questions about women's choices, and the very nature of femininity and maternal ambition, 'One Life' is a heart-stoppingly poignant and emotional exploration of womanhood. In beautiful, resonant prose, first time author Rebecca Frayn has produced an unforgettable debut.
