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Back The Godmothers Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Dedication
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Chapter Three
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Chapter Twenty
  24. Chapter Twenty-one
  25. Chapter Twenty-two
  26. Chapter Twenty-three
  27. Chapter Twenty-four
  28. Chapter Twenty-five
  29. Chapter Twenty-six
  30. Chapter Twenty-seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-one
  35. Chapter Thirty-two
  36. Chapter Thirty-three
  37. Chapter Thirty-four
  38. Chapter Thirty-five
  39. Chapter Thirty-six
  40. Chapter Thirty-seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-one
  45. Chapter Forty-two
  46. Epilogue
  47. Extract from Those Faraday Girls
  48. Acknowledgements
  49. About the Author
  50. Also by Monica McInerney

‘With a vanity publisher,’ Olivia said. ‘And this is only volume one. Her Scottish years. She said that once it’s done she’s going back to France to research volume two. She’s lived there for years with her French husband, the pair of them constantly fighting and making up again, apparently. He’s either a saint or a madman.’

‘So let’s help her finish volume one. Let me help her. Let me help you, Olivia. I survived Gillian, remember.’

‘Celine makes Gillian look like a pussycat.’

‘Please, Olivia.’

Olivia started the car, then turned the engine off again. ‘One afternoon. No more. And thank you.’

Eliza couldn’t stop a smile. ‘Will you tell her I’m your goddaughter?’

‘She’ll be horrible to you either way. We may as well tell her the truth.’

Olivia rang Lawrence. ‘Tell her we’ve found her a temporary assistant. One with nine years’ experience at the highest level. Her name is Eliza Miller. She’ll be there by lunchtime.’

Lawrence was in the hotel foyer when they arrived. He smiled at Eliza. ‘That Anzac spirit coming to the fore, Eliza? Thank you, on behalf of the hotel and every temp agency in a thousand-mile radius.’

‘It’s just for this afternoon, Lawrence,’ Olivia said. ‘Can you please take Eliza up? I’m not in the mood to have Celine shouting at me today.’

‘Of course,’ Lawrence said. ‘Ready, Eliza?’

‘Ready,’ she replied.

Chapter Fifteen

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Lawrence knocked on the half-open door. A cross Scottish voice summoned them in.

Eliza’s initial thought was that there couldn’t be room for anyone in the suite. She had never seen such chaos. It was as if fifty boxes of stationery had been upended onto every surface. Teetering towers of books leaned against bundles of newspapers that touched piles of photographs. There wasn’t a bare surface in the bedroom or living area.

‘This is the whiz-bang new temp?’ a voice said from the corner. ‘You didn’t tell me it was a giraffe.’

Eliza spun around. Her first impression was that she’d stumbled into a wildlife documentary. One starring a furious little animal, like an otter or Tasmanian devil. Celine was tiny. She had short, dyed dark hair teased into tufts around her head. She was wearing pink silk pyjamas. There was a too-taut look to her face, as if she’d had not entirely successful plastic surgery. Her blazing, heavily made-up eyes were directed at Eliza.

‘Do you speak as well as stare?’ she asked. ‘Your typing had better be an improvement on your manners.’

As Lawrence introduced them, Eliza stepped forward and held out her hand.

‘Hello, Celine. I’m pleased to meet you.’