If you could see me now…
Lizzie and Bea Harris were always close. They were sisters and nothing could tear them apart. Until Bea dies, leaving her sister twelve letters, one letter a month for a year.
Alone for the first time Lizzie is left trying to pull together the pieces of a life she has long ignored and find a place for herself out from under her sister’s shadow.
As Lizzie delves deeper into her sister’s life she uncovers secrets that could tear her and her family apart. The letters are revealing a sister Lizzie isn’t sure she recognises, and she’s beginning to wonder if she ever really knew Bea at all…
Perfect for fans of Sue Fortin, Tracy Buchanan and C L Taylor.
Not Quite Perfect
A Not Quite Perfect Christmas
Life or Something Like It
The Secrets Between Sisters
Annie Lyons
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2014
Copyright © Annie Lyons 2014
Annie Lyons 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 © July 2014 ISBN: 9781472084033
Version date: 2018-09-19
ANNIE LYONS
decided, after leaving university, that she ‘rather liked books’ and got a job as a bookseller on Charing Cross Road, London. Two years later she left the retail world and continued rather liking books during an eleven-year career in publishing. Following redundancy in 2009 she realised that she would rather like to write books and having undertaken a creative writing course, lots of reading and a bit of practice she produced Not Quite Perfect. She now realises that she loves writing as much as coffee, not as much as her children and a bit more than gardening. She has since written two more novels and is about to start work on her fourth. She lives in a house in south-east London with her husband and two children. The garden is somewhat overgrown. One day she hopes to own a chocolate-brown Labrador named John and have tea with Mary Berry.
Thank you to my brilliant editor Sally Williamson for always being so wise and calm and for the superb editorial advice and guidance that both she and Victoria Oundjian gave me on this book.
Thank you also to Lucy Gilmour and the rest of the brilliant HQ Digital team – you are a marvel.
Heartfelt thanks to Jane Clements for her eagle-eye and unflinching support.
Special thanks to Lily and Alfie for letting me get on with my writing, offering to design covers and for keeping me grounded at all times.
Most important thanks go to Rich, without whom none of this would be possible.
For Mum and Dad with love
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