To all my early readers: Siona, Emer, Gene, Sonya, Earnan, Beth, Julie – thank you. Special thanks to Brian Langan for his perceptive notes and to Michelle Moran, Seamus Hosey, Hugh O’Conor and Tom Farrelly for their friendship and tireless reading. To June Caldwell, Joanne Hayden and Elizabeth McSkeane for their incisive critiquing and support along the way.

To my fearless, visionary editor, Alexis Kirschbaum, I am so grateful for your belief in this book. To all the team at Bloomsbury for their professionalism and support, in particular Sarah Ruddick, Laura Meyer, Rachel Wilkie, Jo Forshaw, Jasmine Horsey, Sarah McLean and everyone who worked on this novel. To Hermione Davis in the Australian office. To Greg Heinimann for his gorgeous cover design. To Silvia Crompton for her copy-editing skills. An absolute pleasure to work with you all.

To Mum, Dad, Aisling, Shell, Clara and all my friends and family near and far. To my brother Stephen, who I want to thank most especially for his generosity in sharing so much of his journey with me. With love and gratitude to everyone who has stood by me and helped shape this book in some way.

A Note on the Author

Lisa Harding is a writer, actress, playwright and the author of one previous novel, Harvesting. She lives in Dublin.

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First published in Great Britain 2021

This electronic edition published in 2021 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Copyright © Lisa Harding, 2021

Lisa Harding has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers

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

ISBN: HB: 978-1-5266-2446-8; TPB: 978-1-5266-2447-5; EBOOK: 978-1-5266-2444-4

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