A tale of two sisters

Betrayal and loss threaten family relations in new ITV drama

TV preview by Sarah Olowofoyeku

THE news that her mother has been found dead is shocking enough. But Becca is also stunned to learn where her body was discovered. In the three-part drama Maryland – scheduled to begin on ITV1 on Monday (22 May) – Becca and her sister Rosaline investigate the circumstances surrounding their mother’s death. Along the way, they uncover some unexpected family secrets.

Mary (Judy Clifton) had told her family that she was visiting Ireland with friends, so Becca (Suranne Jones) is confused as well as devastated to receive a call informing her that the body of a woman who may be her mother has been found on the Isle of Man.

Becca has a strained relationship with Rosaline (Eve Best), but she calls her and asks her to accompany her to the island to identify the body. It isn’t long after their arrival that they begin to suspect their mother had not been entirely truthful about the life she led.

Rosaline, who moved to London years before and built a successful career, is distant from the rest of the family in more ways than one. When she receives the call, she is in hospital facing a health scare and has no one to share her worry with.

Becca, who stayed in Manchester, married young and had two daughters. She thought she was walking a path set out for her by her mother. But discovering the details of her mother’s life brings her own decisions into question, and she feels a sense of betrayal.

As revelation follows revelation, it remains to be seen whether learning about things that have gone unsaid for years will tear the sisters apart or bring them closer together.

What goes unsaid in families is of interest to Anne-Marie O’Connor, the show’s writer.

‘A lot of the time in TV world, people say exactly what they’re thinking,’ she says. ‘But families do not operate like that. A lot of the time, people just do not want to say what’s going on.’

Secrets kept and words left unspoken are not uncommon in families. Sometimes family members choose to leave things unsaid to protect the feelings of others, but silence can also be the result of a desire to save face or even to cause hurt. Whatever the reason, betrayals often have a devastating impact. Such experiences may leave us distraught and unable to trust other people easily.

In the world of the Bible, many people were betrayed by their families – brothers were abandoned and birthrights stolen – but many of those betrayed people uncovered a truth that God could always be trusted. He would never let them down.

One Bible writer, who had been betrayed by his son but found security in God, prayed: ‘I trust in you, my God… No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced’ (Psalm 25:2 and 3 New Living Translation).

Whether we have experienced betrayal or not, if we decide to put our faith in God, we will uncover the truth that he can always be relied on to care for us and help us in every detail of our lives.