Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018
Copyright © Fionnuala Kearney 2018
Cover design by Ellie Game © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018
Fionnuala Kearney 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.
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Source ISBN: 9780007594016
Ebook Edition © October 2018 ISBN: 9780007594023
Version: 2018-11-14
For Eamonn and Mary and also Jim and Monica who once loved like this.
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Part One
Chapter 1. Dominic
Chapter 2. Erin
Chapter 3. Erin
Chapter 4. Dominic
Chapter 5. Erin
Chapter 6. Erin
Chapter Part Two
Chapter 7. Dominic
Chapter 8. Erin
Chapter 9. Erin
Chapter 10. Dominic
Chapter 11. Erin
Chapter 12. Erin
Chapter 13. Dominic
Chapter 14. Erin
Chapter 15. Erin
Chapter 16. Dominic
Chapter 17. Erin
Chapter 18. Erin
Part Three
Chapter 19. Erin
Chapter 20. Dominic
Chapter 21. Dominic
Chapter 22. Erin
Chapter 23. Dominic
Chapter 24. Dominic
Chapter 25. Erin
Chapter 26. Dominic
Chapter 27. Dominic
Chapter 28. Erin
Chapter 29. Dominic
Chapter 30. Dominic
Part Four
Chapter 31. Erin
Chapter 32. Dominic
Chapter 33. Erin
Chapter 34. Dominic
Chapter 35. Erin
Chapter 36. Dominic
Chapter 37. Erin
Chapter 38. Dominic
Chapter 39. Erin
Chapter 40. Dominic
Chapter 41. Erin
Chapter 42. Dominic
Part Five
Chapter 43.
Chapter 44.
Chapter 45.
Chapter 46.
Chapter 47.
Chapter 48.
Chapter 49.
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
A Q&A with Fionnuala Kearney
Book Club Questions for The Book of Love by Fionnuala Kearney
Read More …
About the Author
Also by Fionnuala Kearney
About the Publisher
NOW – 3rd June 2017
From The Book of Love:
‘I love you because you found me.’
I’m wide awake when I shouldn’t be. Completely still, I’m sitting bolt upright on the edge of our bed, ears pricked for any hint of her. There’s nothing but familiar sounds from the old building echoing in the silence. A fly buzzes around the bedroom window. Through the oak floorboards, from below in the kitchen, the fridge motor whines. The pipes groan in the walls like a quick, expectant heartbeat. Even the house misses Erin.
Standing, I stretch tall, my hands just about touching the ceiling. Then I start my sweep of 44 Valentine’s Way, my early walkabout. The children’s bedrooms get a mere glance, nothing new there but another fine layer of dust. I head downstairs, my left hand tracing the original, deco style, curved staircase. At the bottom, just to the right