Extract: Feeding The Gods, by Elizabeth Harrison

Female writing duo ‘Elizabeth Harrison’ releases a powerful thriller that addresses the issues women face through life and the readiness of the drug
companies to provide a pill for every problem.

Roberta, Rosie, Sandra and Linda meet at college in the 70s and remain constant friends, despite life’s up and downs. The sudden death of one of the friends leads the others to suspect that a slimming drug she had been taking was perhaps to blame.
Was this a wonder drug or a threat to life?
The friends start to uncover long held secrets and betrayals – both personal and professional, but the pharmaceutical industry is not yet finished with them.

Feeding the Gods is a thriller that addresses friendships, the different roles a woman must take on through life and the power of the drug giants.

“Feeding the Gods is a triumph of strong female voices. Posing tough questions and packed with character, it’s bold, witty and thoroughly engaging.” – Miles Hawksley

Extract

A scream pierced the silence of the Women’s Refuge. Other screams followed, high-pitched and belonging to small children. Rosie ran out of her office, down the stairs and found the Green family in a huddle in the kitchen doorway. Their screams had been replaced by sobs and they were all shaking. Wendy Green was crouching down by her children, her arms round them, shielding them from something.

Rosie’s first thought was that an angry husband had found his way in. She sighed in exasperation; despite whatever the men had done to drive them here, the women regularly gave them the door code. Then she looked beyond the wailing group and saw a trail of blood down the door of the nearest kitchen unit, ending up in a pool on the floor. Linda was lying in it. Her forehead was covered in blood, spiky blonde hair saturated with it, her normally sparkling blue eyes dull, milky and expressionless.

Rosie instinctively knew she was dead. She had never seen a dead body before, but Linda’s unnatural stillness was palpable. She was lying at an awkward angle and had turned her head to one side as if looking for something. Rosie felt like screaming too.

‘Come on, come on…’

Years of dealing with frantic situations kicked in, and she herded Wendy and the children away from the doorway.

‘Linda has fallen, and we need to call an ambulance.’

Her voice sounded deliberately calm and had the effect of quietening the little group. Inside, though, it didn’t seem to belong to her. She was fighting to keep hold of her emotions.

Hasn’t this family come to the Refuge to get away from this sort of thing?

Returning to the kitchen, she sat on the floor beside the friend she had known for thirty years and stifled her sobs that now threatened to get out of her control.

What on earth’s happened here?

Linda looked so horribly exposed, and she thought of getting a blanket to cover her up. There was blood everywhere. She wondered if she should close her friend’s eyes.

Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?

Linda was wearing a tunic dress with long sleeves that had become a uniform for the staff at the Refuge. Rosie was an advocate of dressing simply, to signify neutrality, anonymity, being part of a united group, there to listen and not make judgements.

Rosie noticed for the first time how thin her wrists were. She saw the prominent bones in her neck and the sagging skin on her face. She stroked Linda’s hand and talked to her as tears ran down her cheeks.

‘Linda, I’m so sorry I didn’t find you in time. I love you and I feel so guilty. I know you thought I had the ideal life, but it’s not been like that at all. I should have been more honest.’

She kissed the paper-thin skin on her hand, stroked her hair, then gathered her into her arms. Linda felt heavy, and Rosie’s tears fell unchecked.

The paramedics and police arrived. The police then explained that they would need access to the kitchen for at least the morning as it was a potential crime scene.

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About the Authors

Elizabeth Harrison is the pen name of Denise Harrison (Dee) and Elizabeth Buxton (Liz), two friends, writing together.
Feeding the Gods is set principally in South Manchester and Cheshire, which is the area where the authors grew up, married, and had their children. Liz decided to make her career on the high seas, crewing the Atlantic, and living aboard a yacht sailing the Mediterranean, whilst Dee was involved in the start-up and development of two successful software companies.

Speaking on why they wrote the book, Dee and Elizabeth say, “We have known each other since we were five years old and when we both had more time on our hands, writing together seemed the thing to do. We both feel that the picture depicted of women’s lives in the 1960s and 1970s is so often misleading. Talk of a sexual revolution in this period was not the experience for most women. The contraceptive pill was largely unavailable to unmarried women and bringing a child up on your own was not supported by society. If you became pregnant, you got married or had an illegal abortion. Marriage was still seen as a career and consequently women were beholden to the good nature of their husband. Professional jobs for women were invariably in a support function. Things began to change in the 80s and
90s and this made a huge difference to the life choices for women. However, caring for elderly parents was too often something that landed at the feet of daughters, curtailing any ideas they might have of enjoying their new freedom. The experiences of the women in Feeding the Gods reflect all these aspects of what was and still is real life for many people and it puts the role of the drug companies in everyday life into frighteningly sharp focus.”