Chapters (82)
- Cover
- Praise for The House of Whispers
- Title Page
- Note to Readers
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Twelve
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Twenty-Five
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Forty-Two
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Forty-Eight
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Priory Hospital North London: 20 December 2019
- Acknowledgements
- About the Publisher
‘Well, not really, but one night at dinner, my mother gave me a phone number for a fertility specialist – you know, one of these Harley Street guys. Abs was not happy. I didn’t realize it would be such a big deal. We’d been trying – I think everyone knew that; it’s pretty unusual in our community to wait so long after marriage to have your first child. I don’t know if Abs didn’t notice it, or if she was just burying her head in the sand, but everyone was waiting for her to get pregnant. Literally hanging for it. So, when Mum handed me the number, I took it without really thinking about it. But, even if I had, I’d have assumed that Abi would welcome a bit of help. It’s pretty dispiriting watching her get out her tampons each month, knowing that we failed again. I was worried that I might be the one firing blanks. Actually, I’d quite like to know… I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong in accepting a bit of help.’
‘You said Abigail wasn’t pleased?’
‘She freaked out. She was really pissed off. We had “words” about it that night. I didn’t know if she was pissed off about me taking the number, or if it was more about it being my mother who’d given it to me. Sort of like it was her saying Abs wasn’t up to the job; or couldn’t do it on her own. She’s always in this power struggle with my mum. I’ve tried to tell her life would be so much easier if she just accepted that Mum means well and went along with things with a smile. But I guess it’s not in her nature. Anyway, the argument certainly wasn’t about her not wanting kids – I have no doubts about that.
Thirteen
I never remember the dream itself, just impressions, feelings, a sense of throat-clutching horror, and then the scene remains in my head afterwards.