The Book of Love. Fionnuala Kearney

      

       Copyright

      Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      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.

      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: 9780007594016

      Ebook Edition © October 2018 ISBN: 9780007594023

      Version: 2018-12-18

       Dedication

      For Eamonn and Mary and also Jim and Monica who once loved like this.

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

      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

       1. Dominic

      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