A Better Man (33 page)

My agents in Canada, Anne McDermid and Chris Bucci, have provided invaluable support since the beginning. And the incomparable Felicity Blunt and Emma Herdman at Curtis Brown UK have kept me laughing while working diligently to bring the novel to a wider audience. Nick Marston was the first person who told me to write it and his early blast of enthusiasm propelled me forward. And I’m also massively indebted to Jane Southern, Rachel Clements and my wonderful French publisher, Anne Michel, of Albin Michel.

An extra special, platinum thank you goes to my friend Tralee Pearce, a seasoned negotiator of the quagmire and one of the cleverest, biggest-hearted people I know. Without you there would be no idea, no story, no book. I thank you for your generosity, for your unwavering friendship and for calmly talking me down off a cliff’s edge more times than I can count.

My mother, Cecily Ross, and my sister, Meghan McLaren, were early readers and said only nice things, which is a massive compliment if you happen to know my (terrifyingly honest) family. I love you both like crazy.

Thanks to my regular editors who let me take time off here and there to dig into the book and who have made my writing better over the years: Gabe Gonda, Christina Vardanis and Kathryn Hayward at
The Globe and Mail,
Mark Pupo and Sarah Fulford at
Toronto Life,
Colin Campbell at
Maclean’s
and the marvellous Anne Marie Owens.

Big love to my beautiful boys, Solly and Jack, who take the time to remind me each and every day that they honestly don’t give a crap how busy and important I am. I would kill a Gruffalo with my bare hands for both of you.

And finally, thanks to my husband, Rob Yates, for being the finest partner, friend and cheerleading editor a writer could hope to have. I love you.

LEAH McLAREN
is a
Globe and Mail
columnist and Europe correspondent for
Maclean’s. In
2013, she won a gold National Magazine Award in the arts feature category for her work in
Toronto Life
magazine. Her first novel,
The Continuity Girl,
was a national bestseller, spending nine weeks on the
Globe and Mail
bestseller list. She was born in rural Ontario, grew up in a small town and now splits her time between Toronto and London, England, where she shares a home with her husband and two boys.

Visit
www.AuthorTracker.com
for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

“Inside every couple’s marriage is a secret known only to them. One of the many pleasures of Leah McLaren’s novel is the way she opens a window onto that secret, with great heart and wit. Wince in recognition then laugh out loud, just like life.”

Elizabeth Renzetti, author of
Based on a True Story

“In this engrossing new novel, Leah McLaren deftly balances humour and pathos to weave a touching, entertaining portrait of a marriage in crisis. A great read.”

Terry Fallis, bestselling author of
No Relation

“Leah McLaren’s
A Better Man
is ruthless and heartwarming by turns, filled with characters who refuse to conform to expectations. McLaren digs into the disorienting, hilarious, and sometimes flat-out absurd negotiations of modern relationships and identities with a sharp eye and a sharper wit.”

Grace O’Connell, award-winning author of
Magnified World

Cover illustration: Shutterstock

A Better Man
Copyright © 2015 by Leah McLaren

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable 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-books.

EPUB Edition March 2015 ISBN 9781443441582

Published by Harper Avenue, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

FIRST EDITION

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
2 Bloor Street East, 20th Floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M4W 1A8

www.harpercollins.ca

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication information is available upon request

ISBN 978-1-44344-156-8

RRD 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1