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KATHLEEN MCGURL lives near the sea in Bournemouth, UK, with her husband and elderly tabby cat. She has two sons who are now grown-up and have left home. She began her writing career creating short stories, and sold dozens to women’s magazines in the UK and Australia. Then she got side-tracked onto family history research – which led eventually to writing novels with genealogy themes. She has always been fascinated by the past, and the ways in which the past can influence the present, and enjoys exploring these links in her novels.
When not writing or working at her full-time job in IT, she likes to go out running. She also adores mountains and is never happier than when striding across the Lake District fells, following a route from a Wainwright guidebook.
You can find out more at her website: http://kathleenmcgurl.com/, or follow her on Twitter: @KathMcGurl.
‘I loved this story and found it hard to stay away from it’
‘Beautifully crafted novel’
‘Wow, I loved this read!’
‘I was riveted with this fascinating page turner of a book’
‘Excellent book – couldn’t put it down!’
‘It gripped me from the start with its expert weaving together of two tales’
The Pearl Locket
The Daughters of Red Hill Hall
The Girl from Ballymor
The Drowned Village
The Forgotten Secret
The Stationmaster’s Daughter
The Emerald Comb
KATHLEEN McGURL
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2014
Copyright © Kathleen McGurl
Kathleen McGurl asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for 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.
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 e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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.
E-book Edition © May 2020 ISBN: 9781474007504
Version: 2020-03-06
Table of Contents
About the Author
Readers Love The Emerald Comb
Also by Kathleen McGurl
St Clair Family Tree – as researched by Katie
Prologue
Chapter 1: Hampshire, November 2012
Chapter 2: Hampshire, November 1876
Chapter 3: Hampshire, November 2012
Chapter 4: Hampshire, December 2012
Chapter 5: Brighton, April 1838
Chapter 6: Hampshire, April 2013
Chapter 7: Brighton, May 1838
Chapter 8: Hampshire, May 2013
Chapter 9: Hampshire, November 1876
Chapter 10: Hampshire, May 2013
Chapter 11: Brighton, October 1840
Chapter 12: Hampshire, May 2013
Chapter 13: Hampshire, March 1841
Chapter 14: Hampshire, May 2013
Chapter 15: Hampshire, May 1841
Chapter 16: Hampshire, June 2013
Chapter 17: Hampshire, December 1876
Chapter 18: Hampshire, July 2013
Chapter 19: Hampshire, December 1841
Chapter 20: Hampshire, July 2013
Chapter 21: Hampshire, April 1842
Chapter 22: Hampshire, July 2013
Chapter 23: Hampshire, December 1876
Chapter 24: Hampshire, August 2013
Chapter 25: Hampshire, August 2013
About the Publisher
Kingsley House
North Kingsley
Hants
November 1876
To my dearest son, Barty St Clair
This