Inventory

by Darran Anderson

  Thanks to everyone I’ve collaborated with at Chatto & Windus and FSG for their hard work, talent, and trust, and to my exceptional agent, Eve White.

  Thanks to all the local historians who work tirelessly to record places like Springtown Camp and who help to rescue memories of the past from erosion and oblivion.

  And, finally, my debt to the dead, may they rest easy, and to those who have survived, may each day be better than the last.

  A Note About the Author

  Darran Anderson is the author of Imaginary Cities, chosen as a best book of 2015 by the Financial Times, The Guardian, and The A.V. Club. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Times Literary Supplement, frieze, WIRED, and The Architectural Review. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, and lives in London. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Epigraphs

  Prologue

  Part One. Derry, 1984

  Longwave Radio

  House Key

  Map

  Cardboard Box (Marked “This Way Up”)

  Chalk

  Floppy Disk

  Periscope

  Torch

  Football

  Aerial

  Television

  Totem

  Bird’s Egg (Smashed)

  Gargoyle

  Shovel

  LP

  Clock

  Fence

  Salt

  Sweets

  Doll’s Eyes

  Telephone

  Newspaper

  Blindfold

  Belt

  Cassette

  Glass Eye

  Toy Soldier

  Skeleton Key

  Gas Mask

  Tattoo

  Fool’s Gold

  Mass Leaflet

  Inventory

  Part Two. Da’s Folks

  Ink

  Camera

  Wedding Dress

  Pen

  Stamp

  Sundial

  Medal (Royal Army Medical Corps)

  Pocket Mirror

  Jukebox

  Thimblerig

  Coin

  Roll of Microfilm

  45 RPM, Single, Mono (Electrola, 1962)

  Bottle Top

  Handkerchief (Bloodstained)

  Part Three. Ma’s Folks

  Lighthouse Bulb

  Pack of Lucky Strike Cigarettes

  Storm Lantern

  A Key That No Longer Fits Any Lock

  Barometer (Cracked at “Stormy”)

  Compass

  Naval Insignia

  Revolver

  Part Four. The Liminal Place

  Nail

  Diary

  Empty Bottle

  Pills

  Box of Fireworks

  Effigy

  Car Key

  Videotape

  Mix Tape

  ID Card

  Stereo

  Skylight

  Doorbell

  Part Five. A Death in the Family

  Bus Ticket

  Wallet, Keys, Mobile Phone

  Ballast

  Twine

  Recording Device

  Bird Feed

  Flotsam and Jetsam

  Acknowledgments

  A Note About the Author

  Copyright

  Farrar, Straus and Giroux

  120 Broadway, New York 10271

  Copyright © 2020 by Darran Anderson

  All rights reserved

  Originally published in 2020 by Chatto & Windus, Great Britain

  Published in the United States by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

  First American edition, 2020

  E-book ISBN: 978-0-374-71659-2

  Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.

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  This is a memoir and a work of nonfiction. The names and identifying characteristics of some individuals have been changed or combined to protect their privacy.