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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

‘You told Jyothi Aunty we needed this guy’s number?’ Rohan said, throwing his hands up. Meena bit her lip in a ‘sorry-not-sorry’ manner. ‘For God’s sake, Mum. You know we’ll be the talk of the aunties now. Everyone will be gossiping.’ He sat back in his seat. ‘All the coffee mornings will be, like, “That wife of Rohan’s can’t have babies. She’s too this, she’s too that.”’

Meena laughed. ‘Oh, come on now, Ronu. No one thinks like that. Anyway, it’s not as if they don’t know… You’ve been married for three years now and,’ she waved her hand at my belly, ‘still no baby. Goodness, it’s no secret. Maybe it’s time to accept some help.’

She scrabbled in her handbag and took out a scrap of paper with a number on it and, despite his protestations, Rohan reached out and took it.

Ten

Grace was always going to have babies. She was one of those girls who just assumed that it was her destiny to have it all – career, husband, kids – and, when she got together with Alex in Year 12, it was as if the universe had come together to grant her wishes. According to Grace, Alex was the archetypal boy next door: handsome, clever, sporty and popular. Their parents even knew each other.

‘Not just know each other but love each other!’ she told me. ‘When I told my mum I was going to lose my virginity to Alex, she actually took me shopping to Victoria’s Secret.’ Grace giggled, and I squirmed, unable to imagine such a moment with my dad. ‘She helped me choose a special set of lingerie to celebrate.’ She pronounced it properly, her French impeccable.

Alex was good at maths and science, apparently. He was at Manchester, studying Engineering. Serious, focused and utterly in tune with each other, the lovebirds studied together throughout A-levels, hung out together, finished one another’s sentences and spent their spare time planning their future together. The two families even holidayed together. Grace made the pair of them sound like the best-matched couple the universe had ever seen, which made me all the more surprised when I first met him.

‘Alex, this is my friend Abi,’ Grace simpered, as she pushed her boyfriend ahead of her into my room. ‘Come on, don’t be shy!’ and then Alex was there, too big for the space and not at all what I’d expected from the glowing description.