‘Fran’ – she sits next her and takes her hand – ‘none of this is your fault. It’s no one’s fault. I’m glad the truth came out because this life, the one I chose for myself, makes me happy but I was devastated for the longest time. I felt like I’d been lied to my whole life, tricked into being someone I never wanted to be. Behind the gloss of Mum and Dad’s “perfect” marriage was this huge, grubby secret. Mum dressed it up like it was all a bit of drunken fun but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t her idea. She went along with it because Dad suggested it, or because everyone else in their circle was doing it, because someone had drummed it into her that, in order to be a good wife and a good person, she had to be subservient, agreeable and attractive – all the things she tried to drum into me as a child.’

‘Do you think Dad knows the truth about’ – Fran shifts uncomfortably – ‘you?’

‘I don’t think so. I think that’s part of the reason why Mum insisted I keep it quiet. Not just to preserve their reputation but to stop Dad finding out.’

‘Will you tell him? When you go back?’

It’s a dilemma Jenna has battled with since she first spoke to Fran on the phone. By not telling their dad, she and Fran would be complicit in their mother’s lie. But telling him might ruin what was left of his health, and destroy his marriage.

‘I don’t know,’ she says. ‘I really don’t. Just seeing them again is going to be hard enough. One step at a time.’

‘Of course.’ Fran touches her on the back of the hand. ‘Of course.’

It’s not going to be easy, explaining to her parents why she let them believe she was dead. It’s something she hasn’t really explained to Fran either.

‘I’m sorry,’ she says again, ‘for doing what I did, for dropping off the face of the earth. I was still such a mess when I saw the papers and I couldn’t pick up the phone or send the letters I’d written. I wasn’t strong enough. And the more time that passed, the harder it became. One week became two became a month, became six months. How could I pick up the phone and say, “Hi, it’s Jenna! I know you’ve grieving for me but it’s okay now because I’m alive!” How could I explain why I’d let you all believe the news reports that I’d committed suicide and put you through so much pain? Eventually I convinced myself you were all better off without me. That it was better for everyone if you thought I was dead.’