The Good Teacher
Page 32
To those who answered my research questions, thank you for sharing your knowledge: Yo, Icara, Sam, Louise and Nicky (and apologies for re-working any of your facts to fit the story). Many thanks to my lovely agent Brian Cook for his help and advice. I’ve also really appreciated the generosity of our brilliant writing community, especially great podcasters, the Australian Writers’ Centre and Sisters in Crime.
Thank you to all of my family for their support and encouragement, especially Mum, my sisters and brother, their partners and children. All my love to Jamie, Jeremy and Tia for everything: coming along on parts of the book tour last year, making me endless cups of tea at home, answering questions on teenage slang, and so much more!
While I had the spark for this novel many years ago, I was editing it during the catastrophic bushfires at the beginning of 2020, and doing final revisions when the coronavirus pandemic swept the world. We’ve certainly seen the worst—and the very best—of human nature. These terrible times reinforce what a few characters say in The Good Teacher: we need kindness and a strong sense of community to take us into the future.
ALSO FROM ALLEN & UNWIN
SIX MINUTES
PETRONELLA McGOVERN
‘Impossible to put down and full of twists and turns you won’t see coming! I loved this fabulous debut novel.’
Liane Moriarty
How can a child disappear from under the care of four playgroup mums?
One Thursday morning, Lexie Parker dashes to the shop for biscuits, leaving Bella in the safe care of the other mums in the playgroup.
Six minutes later, Bella is gone.
Police and media descend on the tiny village of Merrigang on the edge of Canberra. Locals unite to search the dense bushland. But as the investigation continues, relationships start to fracture, online hate messages target Lexie, and the community is engulfed by fear.
Is Bella’s disappearance connected to the angry protests at Parliament House? What secrets are the parents hiding? And why does a local teacher keep a photo of Bella in his lounge room?
What happened in those six minutes and where is Bella?
The clock is ticking …
This gripping novel will keep you guessing to the very last twist.
ISBN 978 1 76087 756 9