After the Storm (38 page)
Authors: Jane Lythell
I got down on my knees in front of the plan chest and pulled the bottom drawer open. I know him so well. Of course he would arrange his drawings chronologically – the oldest at the bottom, the most recent in the top drawer. The large sheets had been laid out meticulously. There must have been over twenty in the bottom drawer. I took them out carefully. I remembered the obsessive care with which he treated his work. I found the plan of our house near the bottom of the pile. I had not looked at this for many years. There were deep crease marks on the sheet. I lifted the plan onto his drawing desk and looked at the outline of the house: the house he was going to build for us by the sea. It was the work of a young and passionate architect.
I went into the large old-fashioned kitchen. It was messy and had all kinds of nooks and crannies and much-used appliances. There were a lot of recipe books on the shelf by the cooker. On the windowsill by the sink a large earthenware pot was filled with stained wooden spoons of various sizes and shapes. There were two aprons hanging on the kitchen door. So she must cook a lot.
Next to the kitchen there was a small room, which I assumed was her study. Markus would never leave any room of his in such a state. There was a small desk with a laptop on it and a mess of pens and paper lying next to it. And in front of the desk there were shelves with books and manuals and sheaves of paper stuffed together, looking as if they might fall out at any moment. A wastebasket, full to brimming, stood at the side of the desk. The room was very small. Only enough space for one person to sit in there. I did not have the time or the energy to go through her papers. That would have to wait.
As I was leaving her study I saw a notice board on the back of the door covered with photos of Billy. I looked at them closely. She has charted his development from a few days old. One was a hospital shot. Billy was lying in a plastic see-through cot and had one of those identity bracelets around his wrist. There are several shots of Billy in the bath and one of her breastfeeding him. Her shirt was open and she looked sleepily self-satisfied as Billy sucked at her breast. Markus must have taken that one.
There was only one photograph of him. He was lying on a carpet with Billy resting on his stomach. Billy was naked except for his nappy. His chubby back had little pleats of fat as he strained his head up to look at Markus, who rested his hand protectively on Billy’s bare back. Markus’s eyes were crinkled with laughter. I took out the drawing pin and put this photograph in my pocket.
My time was nearly up so I took a quick look around to establish the layout of the other rooms for my next visit. I looked into their bedroom; more heavy furniture. Billy has his own room with a white wooden cot and orange curtains.
I found it hard to imagine Markus living in that flat. It was not what I had expected. He has had to compromise to live there with her. I will go back there again soon.
Heartfelt thanks to Laura Palmer, my editor, who made some brilliant suggestions which brought out what I was trying to achieve in this novel. Thanks also to the tremendous team at Head of Zeus and to Becci Sharpe for her support.
Gaia Banks, my agent at Sheil Land, has been a true champion throughout. Thank you.
There are many other people to thank for their expert knowledge which they shared so generously: Steve Marsh and Strat Mastoris on sailing; Amelia Trevette for information on the fashion industry; Chris Maddison on fishing; Chris Briscoe for information about Roatán; Bob Merrilees for the Spanish translations, and Lynne Thomson for medical details.
Roomana Mahmud and Jan Thompson read an early draft of
After the Storm
and gave invaluable feedback on my characters. And thank you Heather and George Walter for the use of your house when I needed a quiet place to go to complete a final edit.
I am delighted with the cover designed by Jessie Price and thank you Victoria Pepe for your meticulous copy-editing.
Most of all my special thanks to Barry Purchese for his loving encouragement and support throughout.
Twitter:
@janelythell
Facebook:
Jane Lythell Author
A man who had no voice. A woman who helped him find it.
Rob and Anna have only just met Owen and Kim. Now they’ve chartered their handsome old boat to take them to a far off island in the Caribbean.
With just the four of them on board, Rob dreams of lazy afternoons snorkelling. Anna looks forward to the silence and solitude of the sea.
But why does Owen suffer acute insomnia and seem so secretive about his past? Why does Kim keep a knife zipped into her money-belt? Anna, a speech therapist, can usually get people to tell her the truth... but does she want to this time?
T
HE
L
IE
OF
Y
OU
“A very credible portrait of obsession to the point of madness...a clever, involving first novel.”
Literary Review
“Fascinating... clever... [with] memorable original characters. A thrilling read.”
Daily Mail
“Pumps up suspense like
Gone Girl
.”
The Scotsman
J
ANE
L
YTHELL
worked as a television producer and commissioning editor before becoming Deputy Director of the BFI and Chief Executive of BAFTA. She now writes full time. Her first book,
The Lie of You
, was published by Head of Zeus in 2014.
Contact Jane on Twitter:
@janelythell
One woman’s fear is a another woman’s weapon...
“When I look back on my relationship with Kathy I marvel at how naive she was, how little she knew.
But then, she always thought she had everything: the job; the baby; the friends; and him. She thought she was safe. She thought that nothing could touch her perfect world.
She should never have trusted me.”
A woman sets out to destroy a female colleague in this chilling psychological thriller.
The Lie of You
is available
here
.
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The story starts here.
First published in the UK in 2014 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Jane Lythell, 2014
The moral right of Jane Lythell to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.