The Keeper of Secrets (10 page)

BOOK: The Keeper of Secrets

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âWaiting for my dad to come back and whisk you off your feet?'

Corinne nodded. âHe didn't of course, and so I had to learn very quickly how to be a single parent. Some people live charmed lives and travel a straight and uncomplicated path through life. Most of us, however, have to make do bumping from side to side as we go.'

âLet's not forget the ones who reach a dead end and stay there,' Elle said, continuing the analogy which thankfully no longer applied to her. âWhy didn't Dad leave Mum?'

As they sipped their coffee, they had both been ignoring the old and rusted metal box on the table in front of them, along with the pocket watch that Elle had placed on top of it. They both looked at them now.

âI don't have all the answers. I only have one half of the story. It's not for me to say whether your dad loved your mum as much as she deserved. All I can tell you is that he was absolutely loyal and completely devoted to her.'

âAnd my mum felt truly loved, that's why it broke her heart when she found out about the two of you,' Elle said. âI can't help thinking that I found that box for a reason. Realizing that my parents' marriage was less than perfect gave me the courage to admit that my own was a failure. What I can't quite decide yet is if their marriage really was a complete sham. You may not have the other half of the story, but I do. I bore witness to their marriage so, with your help, I'd like to put the two halves together and at least try to find a truth I can live with.'

Corinne picked up the watch, which glinted in the sunshine. It may only have been gold-plated but it was undeniably ostentatious. It wasn't the kind of watch you would expect the son of a docker to be wearing in the sixties. âThis was the very first present I ever bought your dad â¦' she began.

Another Way to Fall

Enjoyed Amanda's short story? Look out for her next novel, ANOTHER WAY TO FALL, published September 2013

If you could write your own happy ending, what would it say?

This is the story of Emma's life

For three long years, she has battled with illness, enduring everything with bravery and always with hope. Then one day Emma is told that they've reached the end of the road. While her family and friends are thrown into denial, anger and grief, Emma suddenly realises that with so much left undone, she must find a way to live the life she has always dreamed of.

This is a story about happy endings

Emma begins to write the story of the life she has always wanted to live and something miraculous starts to happen. As her body starts to weaken, the lines between fiction and reality start to blur and her story takes on a life of its own. And as her story gains in strength, Emma and those who cherish her discover that even in death, there is life.

Ebook 978-0-00-744593-6

Yesterday's Sun

Amanda's first novel,
Yesterday's Sun,
was a Richard and Judy Book Club selection, and was inspired by the tragic death of her own son, at just three years old.

How could you ever choose between your own life and the life of your child?

Newly-weds Holly and Tom have just moved into an old manor house in the picturesque English countryside. When Holly discovers a moondial in the overgrown garden and its strange crystal mechanism, little does she suspect that it will change her life forever. For the moondial has a curse.

Each full moon, Holly can see into the future â a future which holds Tom cradling their baby daughter, Libby, and mourning Holly's death in childbirth â¦

Yesterday's Sun 978-0-00-744591-2

About the Author

Amanda Brooke is a single mum in her forties who lives in Liverpool with her teenage daughter Jessica. It was only when her young son was diagnosed with cancer that Amanda began to develop her writing, recording her family's journey in a journal and through poetry. When Nathan died in 2006 at just three years old, Amanda was determined that his legacy would be one of inspiration not devastation. Her first novel,
Yesterday's Sun
, was inspired by her experiences of motherhood and her understanding of how much a mother would be willing to sacrifice for the life of her child. It was selected as a Richard and Judy Book Club Pick in spring 2012.

Also by Amanda Brooke

Yesterday's Sun

Coming soon

Another Way to Fall

Copyright

Published by HarperCollins
Publishers Ltd

77â85 Fulham Palace Road

Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2013

Jacket layout design Â© HarperCollins
Publishers
Ltd 2013

Cover photograph Â©Â Mark OwenÂ / Trevillion Images

Amanda Brooke asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Ebook Edition ISBN: 9780007522187

Version 2013-07-15

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.