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Back The House of Whispers
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

We’d been living there for a couple of months when she turned twenty. Things were still good then, both of us relishing the freedom of having a little of our own space after the cramped university Halls. I still felt I owed her after she helped me turn my life around and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the quiet domesticity of cooking for her in my own place. Honestly, I think she liked it too.

Turning twenty sounded like a big deal to us back then: it was the beginning of a new decade; the first one since hitting double figures what seemed a lifetime ago and, maybe I brought it on myself, but I felt that the responsibility to make Grace’s birthday special sat squarely on my shoulders. She’d often mentioned the lengths to which her parents had gone for her past birthdays and I didn’t want her to be disappointed just because they weren’t there. I’d set my alarm for an hour before I knew she’d come over for breakfast and smothered the studio with birthday banners and balloons. Then I’d gone back to bed and waited for her to knock.

‘Oh my God!’ she’d exclaimed on seeing the decorations, her hand clamped over her mouth. ‘You did all this for me?’

‘Happy birthday,’ I said, smiling and shy. ‘You’ll have to wait till tonight for your present, but let me make you a coffee.’

She tapped away at her phone while she drank her coffee, birthday messages pinging in, then it was time for lectures and she was gone. I didn’t have much money after paying the rent, but my gift to her was going to be a surprise – a special, home-cooked dinner, just like her mum would have given her: a roast, with all the trimmings.

After my own lectures, I went to the supermarket and hauled back my supplies. While she was still out, I made a soup, then I stuffed the chicken and parboiled the potatoes. I glazed the carrots and trimmed the beans, then I prepared two of Grace’s favourite chocolate melting-middle puddings to serve with ice cream. When it was time, I put the roast in the oven, added the potatoes and carrots and dithered about making everything look ‘just so’.