And to my friends who put up with my moaning and dropping out of dates at the last minute for book reasons; Kirstie Seaman, Catherine Rogers, Margi Harris, Harriet Ivory, Lucy Davies, and those I don’t often see but never forget Jenny Matthews, Sarah Darby, Cathy Carter, and Rosie Wooley.
Without the support of readers this job would be pretty depressing. So thank you to the bookish cheerleaders who do such an invaluable job getting the word out, Tracy Fenton and the incomparable members of The Book Club. Anne Cater and the wonderful Book Connectors, Fanny Blake, Nina Pottell, and Isabelle Broom. Also Victoria Stone, Wendy Clarke, Meghan Gibbons and the The Fiction Cafe Bookclub.
In 2018 we lost Yasmin Selena But, a bright and beautiful woman and the founding member of The Bookshop Cafe and huge cheerleader of all books. So much love to you Selena, and all those who I know are missing you so much.
Finally my family, my husband Adam and my children who are so tolerant of me and my work, I love you guys with all my heart. And of course my darling Blossom and Bluebell, without whom I’d probably write books much quicker as I wouldn’t be constantly getting up and down to let them out and then in again.
THE BEGINNING
Let the conversation begin…
Follow the Penguin twitter.com/penguinukbooks
Keep up-to-date with all our stories youtube.com/penguinbooks
Pin ‘Penguin Books’ to your pinterest.com/penguinukbooks
Like ‘Penguin Books’ on facebook.com/penguinbooks
Listen to Penguin at soundcloud.com/penguin-books
Find out more about the author and
discover more stories like this at penguin.co.uk
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Ebury Press, an imprint of Ebury Publishing,
20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SW1V 2SA
Ebury Press is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
Copyright © Rowan Coleman, 2019
Cover illustration by Sarah. J. Coleman
Cover: www.headdesign.co.uk
Rowan Coleman has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
First published by Ebury Press in 2019
penguin.co.uk
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9781473528895
TITLE PAGE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALSO BY ROWAN COLEMAN
DEDICATION
PART ONE
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
PART TWO
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
PART FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
PART FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
PART SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
CHAPTER SIXTY
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
AUTHOR’S NOTE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
COPYRIGHT