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Back The Other Daughter
Chapters (52)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. OCTOBER 2014 London, UK
  4. PART ONE
  5. FEBRUARY 1976 London, UK
  6. JUNE 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  7. FEBRUARY 1976 London, UK
  8. JUNE 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  9. MARCH 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  10. JUNE 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  11. MARCH 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  12. JUNE 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  13. MARCH 1976 Lausanne/Bern, Switzerland
  14. JUNE 2016 Lausanne, Switzerland
  15. MARCH 1976 London, UK
  16. JUNE 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  17. MARCH 1976 London, UK
  18. PART TWO
  19. APRIL 1976 London, UK
  20. JUNE 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  21. APRIL 1976 Oxfordshire/London, UK
  22. JULY 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  23. MAY 1976 London, UK
  24. JULY 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  25. MAY 1976 London, UK
  26. JULY 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  27. JUNE 1976 London, UK
  28. JULY 2016 Lausanne/Montreux, Switzerland
  29. JUNE 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  30. JULY 2016 Thun/Reichenbach, Switzerland
  31. JULY 1976 London, UK
  32. AUGUST 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  33. PART THREE
  34. AUGUST 1976 London, UK
  35. AUGUST 2016 Lausanne, Switzerland
  36. SEPTEMBER 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  37. AUGUST 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  38. SEPTEMBER 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  39. AUGUST 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  40. SEPTEMBER 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  41. AUGUST 2016 Montreux/Lutry, Switzerland
  42. SEPTEMBER 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  43. AUGUST 2016 Lutry, Switzerland
  44. SEPTEMBER 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  45. AUGUST 2016 Lutry, Switzerland
  46. OCTOBER 1976 London, UK
  47. AUGUST 2016 Vevey, Switzerland
  48. SEPTEMBER 2016 London, UK
  49. Author’s Note
  50. Acknowledgements
  51. More from the Author
  52. About the Author

‘You only have one dad, that’s what I mean. He’ll never love you any less and you’ll never replace him with anyone else. That’s just the way it is.’

I nod, taken aback by his words, by the perception and understanding Patrick seemed so unable to give me, but before I can say anything he gets up from the edge of the pool. ‘Toilet,’ he says, and walks off.

ZJulia’s actually home when we get back from the pool. Léa and Luca rush into the sitting room and start wittering away to her in French so I leave them to it and retreat to my bedroom to send the email that’s been brewing in my head all afternoon. I hope Jorge’s right, that Dad will stick by me even if he doesn’t want me to do this. I know I have to do it because I’ll never get any kind of peace within myself unless I find out who I am and what happened. But still, I intend to protect myself by being evasive. If Daniel knows what happened back then, he’ll understand what I’m saying. If he doesn’t, then he’ll just dismiss me as a nutcase and I’ll have time to consider whether to enlighten him or not.

Dear Mr Buchs,

The words sound strange in my head as I type them on the screen. Daniel Buchs, my probable biological father.

Please excuse me for disturbing you again, but it’s very necessary. Something happened to me a long time ago. I don’t know why, or how, but it’s become very important to me to find out what actually happened. I now know you were married to Brigitte – Anna – and I think you and your former wife may be able to provide me with some answers. If you really have no idea what I’m talking about then I apologise and hope you’ll forgive the intrusion. But I can’t help but think that you might know something about what happened to me in a hospital in Lausanne in September 1976. So I beg you, please reply with any information you may have.

With very best wishes,

Jessica Faulkner (daughter of Sylvia Tallis and Jim Millson)

I hit send before I can change my mind and feel my stomach plunge. It’s done. I’ll soon know, one way or another, whether Daniel and Anna have any clue that the woman they call their daughter was somehow swapped at birth with their real child – me.