by Cathy Kelly
I love social media, but it is so obsessive – I go on benders of Facebook and oh, Pinterest … I have never been a person to spend hours whizzing through my phone but Pinterest is hideously addictive: cute pics of animals, yoga moves to make all the aches go away and ideas of how to crochet adorable things: I no longer crochet adorable things – I just look at pictures of how to crochet adorable things.
For friendship and professionalism, thanks to dear Jonathan Lloyd, Lucia Rae, Melissa Pimentel and all at Curtis Brown; thanks to my wonderful new family at Orion, especially dear Susan Lamb, Kate Mills, Juliet Ewers, David Young, Gaby Young, Louisa Macpherson, Marissa Hussey, Hannah Atkinson, Jemima Forrester, Julia Pidduck, Pandora White, Bethan Jones, Susan Howe, Jon Wood, Emma Dowson, Jenny Page, Dallas Manderson, Andrew Taylor, Breda Purdue, Jim Binchy, Ruth Shern, Joanna Smyth and everyone who does such a glorious job selling my books and doing the really hard work. Also thank you to lovely Olivia Caffrey for doing such a sterling job on the Audible version of my last book.
Thanks also to lovely Anna Egelstaff, Christine Fairbrother, Louise Sherwin-Stark, Justin Ratcliff, Adele Fewster and all the gorgeous people in Hachette Australia, as well as Ruby Mitchell, Mel Winder and the whole team in Hachette New Zealand. Last year’s tour was simply glorious and I met such wonderful people (as ever), and a special hello to all of you.
Thanks to the fabulously talented Emily Griffin and Fareeda Bullert at Grand Central Publishing for making US publication so blissful.
Thanks to all the wonderful booksellers around the world who sell my books and are such a vital part of the team. There is such a thrill to go into a shop in an airport and see my name.
Thanks to my wonderful translators all over the world who have somehow managed to take my words and make sense of them, especially lovely Nelly Ganancia who came here with her darling daughter Clémentine and her husband. Nelly Laurent translates my books for Presses de la Cité, and I am in awe of her ability.
Boundless thanks to Aileen Galvin who runs publicity with such fabulous skill, charm and utter professionalism and to the inimitable Terry Prone of The Communications Clinic who is such a wonderful friend. Thanks to Sarah Conroy for much more than organisation, and wonderful Joanne McElgunn, the vintage queen!
Thanks to the charming Michael Doorly who generously gave a donation to UNICEF Ireland in order to have his name used in the book. Thanks to Jojo Hennessy who gave generously to CLIC Sargent, for children with cancer, for her name to be used – I am using it in my next book as I have plans for this name … It will not be you, Jojo, but your name lit a light in my head.
Thanks to my friends in UNICEF Ireland, both past and present, for all the incredible work they do for children around the world. Last year’s trip to Jordan to see a Syrian refugee camp, the Al Zata’ari Camp, showed me how much work we, the luckier part of the world, need to do to help people around the world in crisis.
For research, thanks to Garry Connolly, Jane Devitt and Laura Drake – and I never even got round to talking to lovely Jane. Sorry!! Thanks to Aine for telling me her story and Sadhbh McLoughlin for medical research (can’t do spoilers here!) for some of the most vital research of the book.
Thanks to my dear friends, without whom I might go mad. OK, madder. Thanks to Emma Hannigan, Patricia Scanlan, Fiona O’Brien, Ella Griffin, Marian Keyes, Kelly Callaghan, Judy McLoughlin, Kate Thompson, LisaMarie Redmond, Aidan Storey, Karen-Maree Griffith, Christine Farmer, Aisling Carroll, Nadia Pfeiffer, Santina Kennedy, Lorna Byrne, Evan Stewart, AnneMarie Casey O’Connor, Dr Mary Helen Hensley, Kate Kerrigan. If I keep listing, this will be huge! There are so many others, and I shall just have to hand out books! Thanks to my dear yoga friends, Marguerite, Anni, Anne, Gary, Dennis, Marese, Catherine, Shane, Mick, Mairead, Carol, Bernie and all the other friends who make my life so lovely.
Enormous thanks to Margaret Fagan and Becca Kavanagh, who keep me entirely sane and happy. What would we do without our coffee breaks?
Thanks to my beloved family, as always: Lucy, Francis, Mum, Dave, Anne, Naomi, Laura, Emer and Robert, not to mention Dexter the Superdog. Thanks to Dinky, Scamp and Licky who cover me with dog fur and love.
Finally, thanks to Dylan, Murray and John, without whom I wouldn’t be able to do any of it.
Also by Cathy Kelly
Woman to Woman
She’s the One
Never Too Late
Someone Like You
What She Wants
Just Between Us
Best of Friends
Always and Forever
Past Secrets
Lessons in Heartbreak
Once in a Lifetime
The Perfect Holiday
Homecoming
The House on Willow Street
Christmas Magic
The Honey Queen
It Started With Paris
AN ORION EBOOK
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Orion Books.
This ebook first published in 2015 by Orion Books.
Copyright © Cathy Kelly 2015
The right of Cathy Kelly to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All the characters in this book, with the exception of those already in the public domain, are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 4091 5366 5
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