It’s the best thing I have, she had said. Keep you safe.
The whale shifted a fraction, sending Stella tumbling head over heels. Then her body was caught and held by a massive force, solid as a continent. A thunder filled her ears, a rushing, and in the split-second before her senses faded, the roar of a mighty breath, as if the world itself had come up for air.
The sea had kept its word, its unbreakable promise.
Stella folded the napkin carefully, and returned it to the pocket of her jacket. She padded back to the pool and slipped in, moving without hesitation to the place where the floor shelved and grew deep.
Then she lifted her face to the sky and floated.
We hope you enjoyed this book.
Acknowledgements
About Tania Unsworth
About Zephyr
Acknowledgements
Writers write books, but editors make them worth reading. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Fiona Kennedy for her brilliance and her unending patience.
Also to Rebecca Carter, agent extraordinaire, and all the people who put up with me on a daily basis, my sisters, my long-suffering sons, and my miraculously sane and supportive husband.
Tania Unsworth
2018
About Tania Unsworth
TANIA UNSWORTH spent her childhood in Cambridge before moving to America in her early twenties. She comes from a family of writers and lives in Boston, USA, with her husband and two sons.
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About Zephyr
Zephyr is an imprint of Head of Zeus.
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First published in the UK in 2018 by Zephyr, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd
Text copyright © Tania Unsworth, 2018
Art copyright © Helen Crawford-White, 2018
The rights of Tania Unsworth to be identified as the author of this work and of Helen Crawford-White to be identified as the artist have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
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, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (HB): 9781788541671
ISBN (ANZTPB): 9781788547796
ISBN (E): 9781788541664
Cover design & illustration: Helen Crawford-White
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The Girl Who Thought Her Mother Was a Mermaid Page 13