by Stav Sherez
There was also a manuscript and hundreds of pages of notes, synopses, chapter titles and character summaries.
I spent a few months going through it. I added what I could from notes he’d made between the lines, on the edges of the margins. I know you’ll think me crazy, but when I was rewriting Jason’s words I could hear him speak to me in a way he’d never spoken to me on the island, and I knew this was the real Jason and that he’d finally found his way out of the labyrinth.
I finished his book. I sent it to an agent I didn’t know. I signed off my emails with Jason. She sold the book to a mid- level publisher. You’ll find the cheque in this envelope. Please give half to Yanni, the old man who lost his son; the rest can be used to rebuild the museum.
The book came out last week. The PR department have explained that Jason is out of the country, uncontactable, not interested in promotion. The non-publicity gave him far more publicity than if he’d been here to do interviews and radio slots. You would have loved it, Nikos. Everyone focused on the mystery behind the mystery.
On a cold December morning, the sky gauzy and grey, I walked past the windows of Foyle’s and saw it there. I stood in the street and stared at the cover, his name embossed in gold. I thought about the swirl of sea and stars that night up by the Black Monastery, the heat of his lips on mine, and I stood there in the howling rain, smiling, knowing that something had finally turned out right.
Nikos carefully folds the letter and places it on the table. He’ll read it again later. It’s good to have things to look forward to. He picks up Alexia’s postcard which rests next to it. Her handwriting takes him back to other days. The letters are faded, the stamp’s come unstuck, and the card’s almost falling apart from repeated handling. But he doesn’t need to read the words to know what they say.
He expected another postcard from his wife, but it’s been over a year and there’s nothing. He stays in his room most days. His life has become circumscribed by the walls of secrecy that held them together for so long. By the memories he can’t bear to let go of. The smell of her fingers, the dark curve of her ankle, the way she always knew when he was lying. Things lost to him. Memories, reminders of the past, ruins.
He’s retired now, and he makes lists of the things he wants to do when she returns. He sits in his room and stares at the wall. He tells himself she’ll come back. That she’ll see he’s forgiven her. And he waits. Hoping that one day the door will open again, his wife will step in, and his life will resume.
Acknowledgements
Lesley Thorne, my agent, without whose support and editorial skill this book probably wouldn’t exist.
Angus Cargill, as great an editor as any writer could ask for. Alex, Katherine, and everyone at Faber who welcomed me so kindly. It’s due to them that this book looks so good.
Damian Thompson, for being there in the worst moment and for Phoenix and many other kindnesses.
Leah Middleton and James Pusey who made some trenchant points about the manuscript which improved it considerably.
Sally Riley and everyone else at Aitken Alexander for their great work in selling my words across the world.
Matt Thorne, Richard Thomas, Nick Stone, Ali Karim, Mike Stotter, Toby Litt, Lee Child, Pete Wild, Louise Welsh, Beverley Cousins, Poisoned Pen Press, John O’Connell, James Sallis, Matt Dornan, Barbara Franchi, Don Winslow.
Rose Dempsey, Bailey Korrell, Luke Coppen and everyone at the Catholic Herald, Willy Vlautin and Dave, Dan, Paul and Sean from Richmond Fontaine, Jim Butler, The Grateful Dead.
My mother and father.
And … Jane for everything these sentences cannot say.
Author biography
Stav Sherez is a freelance journalist and music critic. The Devil’s Playground his 2004 debut novel was described by the Observer as ‘ambitious, audacious and powerful’. His most recent story, ‘God-Box’, featured in Perverted by Language, Peter Wild’s collection of stories inspired by The Fall.
by the same author
THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND
Copyright
First published in 2009
by Faber and Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2009
All rights reserved
© Stav Sherez, 2009
The right of Stav Sherez to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
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 unauthorised 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
ISBN: 978–0–571–25217–6