The Personals. Brian O’Connell

      

Copyright

      In order to protect privacy, some names, identifying characteristics, dialogue and details have been changed or reconstructed.

      HarperCollinsPublishers

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       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

      FIRST EDITION

      © Brian O’Connell 2019

      Illustrations © Micaela Alcaino 2019

      Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

      Cover images © shutterstock.com

      A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

      Brian O’Connell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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      Source ISBN: 9780008321345

      Ebook Edition © October 2019 ISBN: 9780008321352

      Version: 2019-09-06

       Note to Readers

      This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:

       Change of font size and line height

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       Text to speech

       Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780008321345

Dedication

      ‘Just for a second, I thought I lost myself,

      And I watched my body falling,

      And all the colours look brighter now.’

      Brian Carey, RIP

      Contents

      1  Cover

      2  Title Page

      3  Copyright

      4  Note to Readers

      5  Dedication

      6  Contents

      7  Introduction

      8  PART ONE: LOVE AND LOSS

      9 When East Meets West

      10  A Ringless Marriage

      11  A Dress for the (Middle) Ages

      12  A Chance Encounter of a Shocking Kind

      13  A Long Engagement

      14  Addicted to Love?

      15  A Marriage Worth Waiting For

      16  PART TWO: EQUIPPED FOR LIFE

      17  The Car That’s Bulletproof

      18  For Your Eyes Only

      19  Running Up That Hill

      20  PART THREE: PETS’ CORNER

      21  A Monkey Is for Life – Not Just for Christmas

      22  Finding Shangri-La

      23  Making It Pig in Hollywood

      24  PART FOUR: ARTICLES OF WAR

      25  Married to the Past

      26  ‘Grow Wheat – The Crop That Pays’

      27  Zen and the Art of Phone Box Maintenance

      28  Engineering a Step Back in Time

      29  The Weight of History

      30  PART FIVE: SENTIMENTAL VALUE

      31  Rekindling a One in a Million Chance

      32  Remains of a Detached Day

      33  Giving a Doll’s House a Home

      34  PART SIX: COLLECTORS

      35  ‘We Are Collectors ... and We Will Die as Collectors’

      36  Signing the Past Away

      37  PART SEVEN: LOST CAUSES?

      38  Being Frank

      39  Building a Bigger Shrine

      40  PART EIGHT: THIS MORTAL COIL

      41  Meeting a Man About a Hearse

      42  Plotting a Way Out of Grief

      43  PART NINE: SIGNS OF THE TIMES

      44  Nursing Hidden Desires

      45  Cut-Price Counselling

      46  The Homeless Hotel

      47  Making Study Pay

      48  Acknowledgements

      49  About the Publisher

      LandmarksCoverFrontmatterStart of ContentBackmatter

      List of Pagesiiiivv123