The Memory Book

The uplifting and beautiful novel about mothers and daughters

Also by Scarlett Bailey
(writing as Rowan Coleman)

‘Painfully real and utterly heartbreaking, every page will leave you an emotional wreck but, ultimately, this is a wonderfully uplifting novel about mothers and daughters’ Lisa Jewell

‘I can’t tell you how much I loved this book. It did make me cry but it also made me laugh. Like Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, I couldn’t put it down. A tender testament to maternal love’ Katie Fforde

‘Written with great tenderness, The Memory Book manages to be heartbreakingly sad yet uplifting too. You’ll hold your loved ones that little bit closer after reading this novel. I absolutely loved it!’ Lucy Diamond

‘The Memory Book is warm, sad, and life-affirming, with an unforgettable heroine who will make you laugh and cry. It’s a tender book about treasuring the past and living fully in the present; you’ll finish it and immediately go give your loved ones a hug’ Julie Cohen

‘Warm, funny and totally heartbreaking, The Memory Book is a wonderful read’ Polly Williams

‘... just stunning... incredibly beautiful... the story took me on a journey that was at turns, devastating and then so uplifting. It made my heart soar at the strength of the human spirit and how capable human beings are of true, selfless love. An unforgettable and courageous story... This story has the ingredients to capture the world’ Katy Regan

‘A heart-breaking story that will stay with you long after you’ve finished the book’ Carole Matthews

‘... terrific... incredibly moving but also witty and warm’ Kate Harrison

‘... breath-takingly gut-wrenchingly heart-breakingly wonderful. Exquisitely crafted and with huge emotional depth... extraordinary’ Veronica Henry

‘An absolutely beautiful, stunningly written story – you HAVE to read The Memory Book by Rowan Coleman!’ Miranda Dickinson

‘Heartbreakingly good stuff – just be sure to stock up on tissues’ Fabulous Magazine, The Sun on Sunday

‘This is a heart-rending story, but it’s also completely absorbing, uplifting, tender, sad and wise’ Sunday Mirror

Prologue

Greg is looking at me; he thinks I don’t know it. I’ve been chopping onions at the kitchen counter for almost five minutes, and I can see his reflection – inside out, convex and stretched – in the chrome kettle we got as a wedding present. He’s sitting at the kitchen table, checking me out.

The first time I noticed him looking at me like this I thought I must have had something stuck in my teeth, or a cobweb in my hair, or something, because I couldn’t think of any reason my sexy young builder would be looking at me. Especially not on that day when I was dressed in old jeans and a T-shirt, with my hair scraped back into a bun, ready to paint my brand-new attic room – the room that marked the beginning of everything.