b48112bf-b465-5b02-b643-102cdf49ca16">
The Borough Press
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2016
Copyright © Rob Ewing 2016
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017
Cover photographs © Joel Santos / Plain Picture (landscape);
Shutterstock.com (flies, feather). Back cover photograph by Claire Ward
Rob Ewing 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, 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.
Source ISBN: 9780008149611
Ebook Edition © October 2016 ISBN: 9780008149604
Version: 2016-12-19
‘Ewing does a fantastic job of making us feel like children again – not carefree, but lost in a confusing world replete with dangers over which we have little control’
Guardian
‘An amazing book of courage and survival … a book about memory, friendship and hope. It’s the kind of book that made me want to wake my children from their beds, just to kiss them and whisper that I love them. A tremendous novel – I absolutely loved it’
CLAIRE FULLER, author of Our Endless Numbered Days
‘Ewing succeeds brilliantly … Be warned: you’ll feel well and truly wrung-out after reading this, but you’ll also hold your loved ones that little bit closer’
The Scotsman
‘A beautiful, heartwarming story of survival and strength … an original piece of work, one which grips the reader to the very end’
The Press and Journal
‘Powerful, compassionate and brilliant. I absolutely loved it’
JOANNA CANNON, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep
‘Bleak, beautiful, gripping … [I] loved this book’
IAN RANKIN, on Twitter
For Karin
Contents
Behind the Back Bay: Date – lost count