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Chapters (100)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Note to Readers
  4. Dedication
  5. Prologue
  6. Part One
  7. Chapter One
  8. Chapter Two
  9. Chapter Three
  10. Chapter Four
  11. Chapter Five
  12. Chapter Six
  13. Chapter Seven
  14. Chapter Eight
  15. Chapter Nine
  16. Chapter Ten
  17. Chapter Eleven
  18. Chapter Twelve
  19. Chapter Thirteen
  20. Part Two
  21. Chapter Fourteen
  22. Chapter Fifteen
  23. Chapter Sixteen
  24. Chapter Seventeen
  25. Chapter Eighteen
  26. Chapter Nineteen
  27. Chapter Twenty
  28. Chapter Twenty-One
  29. Chapter Twenty-Two
  30. Chapter Twenty-Three
  31. Chapter Twenty-Four
  32. Chapter Twenty-Five
  33. Chapter Twenty-Six
  34. Part Three
  35. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  36. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  37. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  38. Chapter Thirty
  39. Chapter Thirty-One
  40. Chapter Thirty-Two
  41. Chapter Thirty-Three
  42. Chapter Thirty-Four
  43. Chapter Thirty-Five
  44. Chapter Thirty-Six
  45. Part Four
  46. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  47. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  48. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  49. Chapter Forty
  50. Chapter Forty-One
  51. Chapter Forty-Two
  52. Chapter Forty-Three
  53. Chapter Forty-Four
  54. Chapter Forty-Five
  55. Chapter Forty-Six
  56. Chapter Forty-Seven
  57. Chapter Forty-Eight
  58. Chapter Forty-Nine
  59. Chapter Fifty
  60. Chapter Fifty-One
  61. Chapter Fifty-Two
  62. Chapter Fifty-Three
  63. Chapter Fifty-Four
  64. Chapter Fifty-Five
  65. Chapter Fifty-Six
  66. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  67. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  68. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  69. Chapter Sixty
  70. Chapter Sixty-One
  71. Chapter Sixty-Two
  72. Chapter Sixty-Three
  73. Chapter Sixty-Four
  74. Chapter Sixty-Five
  75. Chapter Sixty-Six
  76. Chapter Sixty-Seven
  77. Chapter Sixty-Eight
  78. Chapter Sixty-Nine
  79. Chapter Seventy
  80. Chapter Seventy-One
  81. Chapter Seventy-Two
  82. Chapter Seventy-Three
  83. Chapter Seventy-Four
  84. Chapter Seventy-Five
  85. Chapter Seventy-Six
  86. Part Five
  87. Chapter Seventy-Seven
  88. Chapter Seventy-Eight
  89. Chapter Seventy-Nine
  90. Chapter Eighty
  91. Part Six
  92. Chapter Eighty-One
  93. Chapter Eighty-Two
  94. Chapter Eighty-Three
  95. Author’s Note
  96. Book Club Questions for The Life We Almost Had
  97. Acknowledgements
  98. Extract
  99. Chapter One
  100. About the Publisher

I am the golden sand that tickles Harry’s toes in Thailand, making him collapse into giggles.

The white feather that drifts into your yurt in Hawaii, that’s me.

As you sit in the mountains in Canada, gazing at the stars that twinkle in the sky, I want to tell you that your star still shines the brightest of them all, but I think you know that.

I hope you know that.

I am with you, Anna.

Always.

If you loved The Life We Almost Had, then don’t miss Amelia Henley’s upcoming book The Art of Loving You.

Click here to order you copy now and make sure you keep reading for an exclusive extract.

Author’s Note

CONTAINS SPOILERS

Hello,

Thanks so much for choosing to read The Life We Almost Had. I hope you fell for Adam and Anna in the same way that I did writing them.

This story felt very personal. It was inspired by the time I have spent with my wonderful brother-in-law, who sadly has Parkinson’s Dementia. As anyone who has experience with dementia knows, it is the cruellest of diseases.

Often, he isn’t fully aware of the present; he’s living out a different life, in a different time. He talks frequently of events that happened some thirty years ago, and yet he generally asks after my children who weren’t born during that time. His mind has created its own timeline. Its own narrative. Sometimes when I visit, he falls asleep, and it was during one of those times I watched how relaxed he became; he was smiling as he dozed and I wondered what was going on in his mind. Where was he? Who was he with? As a family we have the heartbreak of watching his decline but sometimes, just sometimes, he’s happy in the world he has created, and I was desperate to discover what that world was. I thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could step into that world, if my sister could spend time with him inside of his mind-made-fiction?

If they could be together and be happy.

I began to research brain science. Magdalen College in Oxford is a leading centre for the study into consciousness and I’m grateful they permitted me to go along, sit in on some lectures and allowed me to ask their neuroscientist, Daniel Bor, my many, many questions, which he has patiently answered over the course of the past year. I was astounded by the work of Yukiyasu Kamitani, which is referred to in this book. Brain science is such an important area and we are learning more about it than ever.