‘Ow,’ Sophie said, looking at her hand. ‘I bit my finger.’

‘You know your finger’s not a Fruit Chew?’ I said. ‘OK, well, look, I’m very sorry because I know Zac was a good –’

‘Can you tell us some of his lies?’ Sophie said.

‘I’m not really listening anymore,’ Oliver said.

‘Well, he told us his mum had died, like my mum, your grandma, but she’s actually still alive.’

‘That means there’s no point you were sad,’ Sophie said.

‘I know,’ I said.

‘Can we go now?’ Oliver said. ‘This is boring.’ He stood from his chair, left the room.

Sophie stayed, reached for another Fruit Chew, examined it, swapped it for another. ‘I’ve never heard of somebody not being your friend because you’re a liar.’

‘It happens.’

‘He’s mean.’

‘Yeah, sweetheart, he’s mean. Do you think you kids might like to play with the iPad while I make dinner?’

‘Hmm. Yeah.’

Heartbeat, heartbeat. I stood, could do homemade fish and chips. ‘I love you, sweetheart.’

‘I love you too.’

Acknowledgements

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Reading grows empathy, and we need more of that – so thank you, whoever you are, for reading.

More specifically, I’d like to thank Kate Mulqueen for her encouragement, advice, help and joyous belly laughs; Jess Dalgarno for her unwavering support and cherished optimism; Martin Shaw for believing before anyone else and for steering me and this book in the very best way possible; Lee Kofman for her priceless feedback and for phoning to lift my spirits when I really needed it; Rochelle Siemienowicz for her wonderful friendship, insight and encouragement; Markus Stone for his laughter and interest; Thuy On for her handy, no-nonsense input; Jane Rawson for her support and feedback; Grazina Pranauskas for her poetic reading of what would become the first chapter of this book; Justine Hyde for some really helpful information; Cory Zanoni for some logistical advice; Mark Cipolla for lending his ears and for being a treasured friend; Gerry Campbell for his gracious and valued input; Steven Vass for his assumption that my writing will be good; Jane Curry for her incredible energy, encouragement and support of me and other writers; Zoe Hale for her sharp eyes and sound advice; Kate Goldsworthy for her remarkable editing skills; and Sophie Hodge and Holly Jeffery at Ventura for making me feel part of the family.

Last and never least, thanks to Kolya and Finn – you inspire me every day to be the best version of myself, to keep trying. I’m so proud of you both.

Extracts from the following have been reproduced with permission:

• All Rumi quotes from The Essential Rumi, by Coleman Barks, Harper Collins.

The following public-domain works have also been quoted from:

• Fall, Leaves, Fall, Emily Brontë (1818–1848)

• Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

• Against Lying, Isaac Watts (1715)