Louisa Hedley

Meet the protagonist of ‘Husband, Wife, Strangers’.

Louisa Hedley, taken by her daughter, Sophie.

Aged eleven, Sophie became a vegetarian. With her husband Peter working away in Amsterdam, Louisa embraced the idea of a mostly meat-free diet at home. Although not a vegetarian herself, Louisa enjoys cooking dishes that appeal to, and suit her daughter. Look out for some of those recipes on this site.

Now in her late forties, Louisa Anne Bruce-Gardiner was born in St. John’s Wood, North London. Her father, William, was employed in the Foreign Office (later to become The Foreign and Commonwealth Office), where he built a successful career as a highly respected diplomat. Her mother, Barbara was a political researcher and commentator before curtailing her career in response to the family’s frequent relocation around the UK’s European embassies.

Given the demands of her father’s work, Louisa’s education was always going to be difficult. As was the case with her brother Michael, she attended several international schools before being sent to boarding school back in England in preparation for GCSE and A-level exams.

She went on to study accounting and management at Bristol University, where Asha, her best friend from boarding school, attended as well. Following graduation, Louisa and Asha both worked in London, where they subsequently teamed up with a few others to share a house in Shepherd’s Bush. It was there that she had a meaningful relationship with a housemate, Robert, before his departure for Canada ended their romance.

Louisa always dresses smartly for work, but prefers relaxed and casual clothes when at home.

A couple of years after Robert’s departure, Louisa bumped into and struck up a relationship with Peter, another former Shepherd’s Bush housemate and Robert’s best friend. Their marriage three years later was soon followed by the birth of Sophie.

Both Peter and Louisa have been successful in their careers, Louisa being promoted into her position as the UK finance director of an American pharmaceuticals giant; whilst Peter heads up the engineering function of a European distribution company. The downside to this arrangement is that Peter spends most of his time in Amsterdam, where his company is based and he has an apartment.

Daughter Sophie studies marine biology with oceanography at Southampton University, her visits home being eagerly awaited by her mother.

Louisa learned the piano as a child, but these days practices little. She does, however, like to keep fit and attends Zumba classes a couple of evenings a week, and on most weekends, unless Peter is home, that is. She remains best friends with Asha, who is the HR director at the same company. You can learn a little more about Asha elsewhere on this site.

Louisa enjoys a glass of wine, and whilst she will happily settle for a Sauvignon Blanc, her favourite is a good Albariño– a fresh white, principally produced in the north-west regions of Spain and Portugal.