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Back One Year Later
Chapters (49)
  1. PROLOGUE
  2. PART I
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. PART II
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. PART III
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. PART IV
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. EPILOGUEAMY
  48. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  49. BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS

My editors, Sara O’Keeffe and Susannah Hamilton, have given me excellent advice and helped shape this novel. They’ve been a joy to work with. I’d like to thank the whole team at Atlantic Books, especially Jamie Forrest, Marketing Campaigns Director, and Kirsty Doole, Publicity Manager. Special thanks to Mandy Greenfield, who copy edited One Year Later with a light and understanding touch. A heartfelt thank you to Emma Smith-Barton who, along with Claire Snook, have helped me become a better writer. Special thanks to Claire, who weathered several drafts without complaint. As ever, I’m grateful to my agent, Robert Dinsdale, of Independent Literary, who continues to both support and challenge me to improve.

Thank you to my family: my mother, Rosemary O’Connell, and my siblings, Sheila, Dee and Patrick, their partners, Simon, Ian and Emma, my nieces, Daisy, Jessica and Emily, my husband, Jaimie, and my daughter, Jasmine, and in remembrance of my father, James O’Connell. I’m grateful for such a loving and supportive family. One Year Later is, at its heart, a book about the emotional damage families can inflict which, if left unchecked, can continue, generation after generation. I would like to salute all those of you who have come from a dysfunctional family, and are who are doing their level best to become stronger, healthier and happier.

BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS

Apart from the prologue, One Year Later, is told from two perspectives – that of Amy Flowers and her brother, Nick Flowers. Most psychological thrillers are usually narrated by a woman – what did you think about having a male perspective? What does it add to the story?

The story revolves around the death, one year ago, of Ruby-May, who drowned the day before her third birthday. Did you believe the characters’ recollection of the events leading up to her death?

Were there any discrepancies and if so, did they make you question the portrayal of other events that had taken place in the family’s past?

Who did you trust in the novel and why?

The police verdict on the drowning of Ruby-May was ‘accidental death’. Did you believe this?

The characters all grieve in different ways for Ruby-May. In what ways did they show how they felt? Do you think it’s ever possible to get over the death of a child?

How did you think the children, Lotte and Theo, have learned to cope with the loss of their sister, Ruby-May?

There are three absent characters in One Year Later – Eleanor Flowers, the mother, Ruby-May, the dead child, and Maddison, Nick Flowers’ ex-girlfriend. How did these characters, who never appear in the current story, shape the novel?

There are two characters who are not part of the Flowers family: Luca Castaglioni and Joe Hart. How did these young men fit into the story?