Ellie Barrett and Joanna Fox are neighbors who used to be friends. Now they are neighbors who pretend to be friends. And that's okay with Ellie. With three children, a sick mother and a difficult husband who admires the slim athletic Joanna a little too much, Ellie doesn't have time for neurotic Joanna Fox. A wave and a nod across the cul-de-sac and the occasional car pool is enough for Ellie. She prefers to keep her distance.

Joanna left her successful law practice to create the perfect home for her doctor husband, five children, three cats and two dogs. Joanna knows she sometimes rubs the other mothers the wrong way, including her neighbor, Ellie. But it's not Joanna's fault that her children are successful, her house spotless and her jeans a size six. It's not her fault Ellie's husband would rather spend time with Joanna than with his distracted wife.

Ellie's and Joanna's not-so-peaceful co-existence is threatened when a global pandemic and roiling social unrest trap the two families together. Will the two families rally to protect themselves from the pestilence that threatens their suburban oasis? Or will long-held secrets blow the two families — and their respective marriages — apart?

Set during the uncertainty and emotional strain of the early pandemic years, A Safe Distance examines how quickly familiar lives can unravel under pressure.

Bernadette Walsh creates a compelling portrait of two families navigating isolation, fear, resentment, and shifting loyalties while trying to maintain a sense of normalcy in an increasingly unstable world. As outside tensions intensify, private conflicts within the neighborhood become impossible to ignore.

At its heart, the novel explores the emotional distance people create to protect themselves — and the consequences of allowing silence, resentment, and misunderstanding to grow unchecked. Blending women’s fiction with psychological insight and domestic suspense, A Safe Distance is an intimate story about friendship, marriage, vulnerability, and the fragile connections that hold communities together.

• Emotionally complex women’s fiction
• Contemporary suburban dramas
• Stories about friendship and marriage
• Character-driven fiction with psychological depth
• Novels exploring family tension and social pressure
• Domestic suspense grounded in emotional realism

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“Get ready to smile and sob.” — Goodreads reviewer 

“The two women are so real, emotions and incidents are raw.” — Goodreads reviewer 

“Bernadette Walsh is a master at blending all these emotions into unforgettable stories.” — Goodreads reviewer 

The novel was inspired by the emotional and psychological pressures many families experienced during the pandemic — isolation, fear, strained relationships, and the ways ordinary lives changed under extraordinary circumstances.

Yes, but the novel is ultimately more about relationships than the pandemic itself. The story explores friendship, marriage, parenting, resentment, and emotional distance during a time of uncertainty and stress. Also since I wrote this book during the early days of the pandemic, this pandemic is fictionalized to a large extent since I didn't know exactly what would happen during the real pandemic.

A Safe Distance is contemporary women’s fiction with elements of domestic drama and psychological suspense.

The novel centers on Ellie Barrett and Joanna Fox, two suburban neighbors whose strained friendship becomes increasingly complicated as outside pressures and personal tensions intensify.

The book explores:

• friendship and resentment
• marriage under pressure
• motherhood and caregiving
• emotional isolation
• suburban family life
• vulnerability and trust
• the hidden tensions beneath ordinary relationships

A Safe Distance is strongly character-driven, focusing on emotional realism, complicated relationships, and the internal struggles of the characters.

The title reflects both physical and emotional distance — the ways people protect themselves from vulnerability, conflict, and intimacy, especially during uncertain times. It is also a reference that during the pandemic we had to keep 6 feet apart--a safe distance.

Absolutely. The novel raises timely and relatable questions about friendship, marriage, parenting, fear, and emotional connection that often lead to rich discussion.

1. How did the pandemic setting affect your understanding of the characters and their decisions?
2. Ellie and Joanna maintain a polite but emotionally distant relationship at the beginning of the novel. Why do you think their friendship deteriorated over time?
3. Discuss the idea of emotional distance in the novel. Which characters create barriers to protect themselves, and why?
4. How does the novel portray the pressures placed on mothers during times of crisis?
5. Which relationship in the novel felt the most authentic to you? Why?
6. The novel explores how small resentments can build over time. Did any of the conflicts surprise you, or did they feel inevitable?
7. How did isolation and uncertainty change the behavior of the characters?
8. Discuss the role of marriage in the novel. Which couples seemed strongest? Which relationships were already fragile before the crisis began?
9. Did your opinion of Ellie or Joanna change throughout the story?
10. How does Bernadette Walsh portray suburban life differently from the idealized version people often imagine?
11. The novel focuses heavily on emotional realism. Were there moments or situations that felt particularly familiar or relatable to you?
12. What does the novel suggest about friendship between women, especially during stressful periods of life?
13. How do fear and anxiety influence the choices characters make throughout the novel?
14. Did the ending feel hopeful to you? Why or why not?
15. If the events of the pandemic had not occurred, do you think the tensions between the characters would eventually have surfaced anyway?