Leopold Blue (20 page)

I owe an enormous debt of gratitude for unwavering support and inspiration from
Aty Georgopoulos, Alison Nagle, Gerda Pearce, Rochelle Gosling, Sarah Morris Keating, Elspeth Morrison, and Charlotte Edwardes. Thanks also to Maggie Hamand of the Complete Creative Writing Course, and Shaun Levin for many years of creative nurturing; and to Dr Sally Cline, who taught me, among many other things, the correct use of the word ‘so'.

Huge thanks to Claire Wilson, for seeing the potential of an imperfect draft, and to Emily Thomas, Georgia Murray and the Hot Key team.

To my wonderful family and friends – each of you are a thread in a tapestry I treasure very deeply.

And of course, Johnny, who dared me to dream.

Rosie Rowell was born and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. These days she lives in West Sussex with her husband and three children. LEOPOLD BLUE is her first novel.

First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Hot Key Books

Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0AT

Copyright © Rosie Rowell 2014

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-4714-0126-8

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Hot Key Books is part of the Bonnier Publishing Group

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