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Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for The House of Whispers
  3. Title Page
  4. Note to Readers
  5. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  19. Twelve
  20. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  21. Thirteen
  22. Fourteen
  23. Fifteen
  24. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  25. Sixteen
  26. Seventeen
  27. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  32. Twenty-One
  33. Twenty-Two
  34. Twenty-Three
  35. Twenty-Four
  36. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  37. Twenty-Five
  38. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  39. Twenty-Six
  40. Twenty-Seven
  41. Twenty-Eight
  42. Twenty-Nine
  43. Thirty
  44. Thirty-One
  45. Thirty-Two
  46. Thirty-Three
  47. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  48. Thirty-Four
  49. Thirty-Five
  50. Thirty-Six
  51. Thirty-Seven
  52. Thirty-Eight
  53. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  54. Thirty-Nine
  55. Forty
  56. Forty-One
  57. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  58. Forty-Two
  59. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  60. Forty-Three
  61. Forty-Four
  62. Forty-Five
  63. Forty-Six
  64. Forty-Seven
  65. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  66. Forty-Eight
  67. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  68. Forty-Nine
  69. Fifty
  70. Fifty-One
  71. Fifty-Two
  72. Fifty-Three
  73. Fifty-Four
  74. Fifty-Five
  75. Fifty-Six
  76. Fifty-Seven
  77. Fifty-Eight
  78. Fifty-Nine
  79. Sixty
  80. Priory Hospital North London: 20 December 2019
  81. Acknowledgements
  82. About the Publisher

Meena Allerton is a strong woman who usually gets what she wants in life, and Rohan is her only son – her pride and joy – a point which she’d made clear from the moment she first cast her eyes over me. While she never judged me, not openly anyway, I always had the impression she thought I was lucky to be with Rohan – never the other way around. Sometimes I wondered if she would have preferred Rohan to marry a ‘nice Indian girl’ for, although he is to all intents and purposes British, we both know that if you scratch a little deeper, he’s laced through to his soul with the spirituality of Meena’s Hindu background. Physically, he’s a good mix of both his parents: his colouring and his aristocratic bone structure from Meena’s side, and the blue-green eyes courtesy of the Anglo-Saxon input of the Allertons. A paler, bearded version of Hrithik Roshan, as Meena’s always saying. I roll my eyes, but secretly I agree.

Meena herself is the only member of the family not originally from England. She was born in India and sent to the UK to study. It was here in London, while she studied for her degree, that she surprised everyone by falling in love with Clive, a quiet, unassuming Accountancy student. The stand-off about where they would live after marriage was the stuff of family legend: while Clive was happy enough to give India a try, my mother-in-law refused point-blank to go back, and so the Allerton family tree remained firmly rooted in North London, where it always had been. I often wondered if Meena missed the colours and life of India but, when I asked her, she said she missed only three things: her parents – both now dead; the warmth of the sun; and the ‘perfect’ masala dosas from a certain street-food shack.

In fact, her quest to find a dosa that rivalled these magical ones from India underscored the Allerton family’s entire lives. Whenever we found ourselves in a restaurant that served southern Indian food, there would be a certain quickening as she wondered: could this be the one? She’d lick her lips and finger the menu nervously.

‘For God’s sake, don’t do it,’ Clive would sigh. ‘Don’t torture yourself, love.’

But still, a dosa would be ordered. Meena would taste it, delicately, as if it might contain something toxic, then her head would tip sideways and up as if asking the opinion of the gods, but then she’d shake her head and turn her lips downward. Seeing her shoulders sag with disappointment every time was strangely moving.