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25 Library Terrace

Natalie Fergie
Chapters (100)
  1. Half Title
  2. Also By Natalie Fergie
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. 2011
  8. Chapter 1
  9. Chapter 2
  10. 1908
  11. Chapter 3
  12. 1910
  13. Chapter 4
  14. Chapter 5
  15. Chapter 6
  16. Chapter 7
  17. Chapter 8
  18. Chapter 9
  19. Chapter 10
  20. Chapter 11
  21. Chapter 12
  22. Chapter 13
  23. Chapter 14
  24. Chapter 15
  25. Chapter 16
  26. Chapter 17
  27. Chapter 18
  28. Chapter 19
  29. Chapter 20
  30. Chapter 21
  31. Chapter 22
  32. Chapter 23
  33. Chapter 24
  34. Chapter 25
  35. Chapter 26
  36. Chapter 27
  37. Chapter 28
  38. Chapter 29
  39. Chapter 30
  40. 1921
  41. Chapter 31
  42. 1931
  43. Chapter 32
  44. Chapter 33
  45. Chapter 34
  46. Chapter 35
  47. Chapter 36
  48. Chapter 37
  49. Chapter 38
  50. Chapter 39
  51. Chapter 40
  52. Chapter 41
  53. Chapter 42
  54. Chapter 43
  55. Chapter 44
  56. Chapter 45
  57. Chapter 46
  58. Chapter 47
  59. Chapter 48
  60. Chapter 49
  61. 1951
  62. Chapter 50
  63. 2011
  64. Chapter 51
  65. Chapter 52
  66. Chapter 53
  67. Chapter 54
  68. Chapter 55
  69. Chapter 56
  70. Chapter 57
  71. Chapter 58
  72. Chapter 59
  73. Chapter 60
  74. Chapter 61
  75. Chapter 62
  76. Chapter 63
  77. Chapter 64
  78. Chapter 65
  79. Chapter 66
  80. Chapter 67
  81. Chapter 68
  82. Chapter 69
  83. Chapter 70
  84. Chapter 71
  85. Chapter 72
  86. Chapter 73
  87. Chapter 74
  88. Chapter 75
  89. Chapter 76
  90. Chapter 77
  91. 2021
  92. Chapter 78
  93. Chapter 79
  94. Chapter 80
  95. 2022
  96. Chapter 81
  97. Parkin
  98. Acknowledgements
  99. About the Author
  100. About Embla Books

Half Title

Half title for 25 Library Terrace

Also By Natalie Fergie

Also By Natalie Fergie

The Sewing Machine

Title Page

Title page for 25 Library Terrace by Natalie Fergie

Copyright

First published in the UK in 2025 by

An imprint of Bonnier Books UK

5th Floor, HYLO, 105 Bunhill Row,

London, EC1Y 8LZ

Copyright © Natalie Fergie, 2025

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The right of Natalie Fergie to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 9781471419430

Also available as a paperback and an audiobook

Typeset by IDSUK (Data Connection) Ltd

The authorised representative in the EEA is Bonnier Books

UK (Ireland) Limited.

Registered office address: Floor 3, Block 3, Miesian Plaza,

Dublin 2, D02 Y754, Ireland

[email protected]

Dedication

For librarians, everywhere

Contents

2011

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

1908

Chapter 3

1910

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

1921

Chapter 31

1931

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

1951

Chapter 50

2011

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

Chapter 65

Chapter 66

Chapter 67

Chapter 68

Chapter 69

Chapter 70

Chapter 71

Chapter 72

Chapter 73

Chapter 74

Chapter 75

Chapter 76

Chapter 77

2021

Chapter 78

Chapter 79

Chapter 80

2022

Chapter 81

Parkin

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About Embla Books

Floor plan of a semi-detached house, starting with the front door on the bottom-right. Moving clock-wise through the plan, the drawing room is immediately to the left of the door off of the hallway, followed by a WC, then the dining room, then the kitchen. Off of the back of the kitchen is a small scullery, with another WC and a larder. There is also a small staircase in the scullery leading upstairs. The hallway leads back to the entryway and the front door, where there is the entrance to the main staircase.
Floor plan of the first floor of the semi-detached house. A small third bedroom sits in the bottom right, above the front door and entryway downstairs. An upstairs parlour is immediately to the left, with a big bay window. A bathroom then bedroom 1, and then bedroom 2. These rooms are all set around a hallway, which is accessed by the stairs from the main staircase below. At the back of bedroom 2, but inaccessible through it, is a small maid's room, accessed via the small staircase from the scullery below.

2011

Chapter 1

February 2011

Tess squeezes the trigger.

The drill screams into life. She lets it slow to a stop and dumps it onto the huge coffee table beside her recent purchases. ‘DIAMOND TIPPED’ proclaims the packaging, with a shooting star which reminds her of a toothpaste advert. She unwraps the drill bit with some difficulty and holds it up to the light. It must be a very small diamond, she thinks, glancing down at her left hand.

In the kitchen, she turns on the tap at the sink and squirts a healthy dollop of green washing-up liquid into her palm. She holds her hands under the icy stream and watches as a white froth of extravagant soapy bubbles appears. The ring spins on her finger, but it doesn’t come off. Too many doughnuts, she thinks. A cold ache, not dissimilar to the frozen feeling in her chest, begins to spread downwards to her fingers and upwards to her elbow. She twists the ring around and around until she is able to pull it over her knuckle and drop it into the sink.