BooksBarbecue
Back The Cliff House Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. Booklist
  3. Title Page
  4. Praise
  5. Dedication
  6. Prologue
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  62. Epilogue
  63. Acknowledgements
  64. About the Publisher

I don’t reply. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. But then again it’s not as if I had any choice. This was the path I chose. The only way I could see.

This house.

The Cliff House.

Looking back it’s hard to say exactly why I fell so in love with The Cliff House. Can anyone put their finger on why they fall in love? Like any affair it starts somewhere, a spark of attraction or an emotional connection, and then comes the gradual deepening of affection. A growing sense of security. An ache in the pit of the stomach which comes with being separated. Occasionally love darkens. Addiction blurs the line between love and obsession. It would be simple to say the house was where I felt my father the strongest. Or that I was seduced by the lifestyle it promised. Or that it became an escape from my sadness and emotional confusion. Or, perhaps, I was just a teenage girl who felt a little lost until she stepped through the gate at the bottom of a beautiful garden. A teenage girl who wanted a different life. A life this house promised her.

However it started, whatever the reason, The Cliff House consumed me.

‘So,’ she says. ‘Are you swimming today?’

‘Yes,’ I reply, managing to keep my voice steady. ‘I am.’

‘That’s good,’ she says. ‘I love to watch you swim.’

Epilogue

Epilogue

I watch him walk through the living room from a sun lounger on the terrace.

I spy. With my little eye.

The air is cool. Summer evenings turning chill as September takes hold. I reach for the flute of champagne and hold it up to the light to watch the tiny bubbles race to the top. The glass is chipped at the rim so I am careful to drink from the other side. Nothing is as flawless as it was. Though perhaps I’m mistaken. Perhaps it was always like this and I just didn’t see it.

The sea is calm today, flat, like a millpond. The gulls wheel with purpose, searching the water, hunting for fish swimming close to the surface.

The house holds me tightly. Its whiteness bold against the moorland backdrop. It doesn’t belong in this coastal place, but it has claimed it as its own.

As I have claimed it.