скачать книгу бесплатно
The Little Theatre on the Seafront: The perfect uplifting and heartwarming read
Katie Ginger
When Lottie’s Gran dies she leaves one last request; save Greenley Theatre.Faced with a decaying building, a mayor who most definitely isn’t on board with the project and a group of actors who just can’t get along, Lottie has her hands full, but with best friend Sid by her side she knows she can do it somehow.But the arrival of Jeremy, a hotshot London developer who sweeps Lottie off her feet, complicates things. Suddenly Sid gets a new girlfriend, the Greenley Players fall apart, and that crumbling building? Well it crumbles a whole lot more. With no one to turn to, Lottie has to find the courage to save the day.Will Lottie be able to save the theatre and also follow her heart?
About Katie Ginger (#u98fa5105-ff75-57a4-ac53-4bd1f6717769)
KATIE GINGER lives in the South East of England, by the sea, and apart from holidays to very hot places where you can sit by a pool and drink cocktails as big your head, she wouldn’t really want to be anywhere else. This is Katie’s debut novel but she is also the author of some cosy mystery short stories. She loves making her characters either fall in love, or killing them off – it depends on her mood!
When she’s not writing, Katie spends her time drinking gin, or with her husband, trying to keep alive her two children: Ellie, who believes everything in life should be done as a musical number from a West End show; and Sam, who is basically a monkey with a boy’s face. And there’s also their adorable King Charles Spaniel, Wotsit (yes, he is named after the crisps!).
For more about Katie you can visit her website: www.keginger.com (http://www.keginger.com), find her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KatieGAuthor (http://www.facebook.com/KatieGAuthor), or follow her on Twitter: @KatieGAuthor (https://twitter.com/katiegauthor?lang=en)
The Little Theatre on the Seafront
KATIE GINGER
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018
Copyright © Katie Ginger 2018
Katie Ginger asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for 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, 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-book Edition © September 2018 ISBN: 9780008308674
Version: 2018-08-22
Table of Contents
Cover (#u99d118b3-b11c-5cd2-a41d-cc00d4293984)
About Katie Ginger (#ub03b19d0-3acb-5083-8035-260b39234a62)
Title Page (#u15e9ef49-0c46-5cec-b9e8-9d38c3de18bf)
Copyright (#u58700850-bee9-5660-a720-e75aa34fd7cd)
Dedication (#u2ed4c65e-9aaa-5d6c-9768-ceba4273f539)
Prologue (#u1dab7332-b72f-562c-b69d-a0b55db8b8a1)
Chapter 1 (#ua361df26-0ab0-5a69-ac56-b97a1272e2c2)
Chapter 2 (#u2a5bfee2-9c12-5d50-a011-2e4aa563d3bb)
Chapter 3 (#u10f41375-d5c0-5d95-b19b-32c1c2bc25a6)
Chapter 4 (#ubf0d5ff3-bf3c-5293-8f9f-677c31eca0c8)
Chapter 5 (#u7d249e81-c924-51ca-ad3a-763afe51e5d7)
Chapter 6 (#u1d0e4a60-9780-57c5-a54a-d5803b3a2731)
Chapter 7 (#uf78ff5b1-c25d-5d26-baed-2be2b5adecce)
Chapter 8 (#u491403cf-ca8f-53fd-8039-159ee07ec70f)
Chapter 9 (#ua89707f0-5ea6-541f-af22-cbddbcb83168)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 22 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 23 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 24 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 25 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 26 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 27 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 28 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 29 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 30 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 31 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 32 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 33 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 34 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 35 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 36 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 37 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 38 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 39 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 40 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 41 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 42 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 43 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 44 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 45 (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)
Coming Soon (#litres_trial_promo)
Hello! (#litres_trial_promo)
Dear Reader, (#litres_trial_promo)
Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
To all my supportive family and friends.
Thank you!
Prologue (#u98fa5105-ff75-57a4-ac53-4bd1f6717769)
To my dearest girl,
What a wonderful life we’ve had together, my darling Lottie. I’m so sorry that I’ll miss so many things, such as seeing you get married and have children, but my time has come and I’m off to see your granddad. It’s been a long time since we last saw each other so we should have a lot to talk about, which will be a pleasant change from our married life together.
With all this death business I’ve been thinking about you and what you’ll do after I’m gone, and I’ve decided something – you need a shake up, my girl!
I love you, dear, but all you do is go to work, come home again, and that’s it. You’re thirty years old and you should be doing more with your life than spending your evenings with a little old lady like me.
If you remember, I have tried to get you enjoying life a bit more, but to no avail. Last year I set you up with that lovely handsome window cleaner, but you didn’t bat an eyelid. In fact, I’m not entirely sure you even knew what was happening. And then there was that time at Christmas, when I tried to get you to go to your school reunion … but you stubbornly refuse to enjoy anything that takes you out of yourself and out into the world. To be frank, dear, it’s no way to live.
So, I’ve decided that a bit of emotional blackmail is in order. And as spending your evenings fussing over me won’t be an option anymore, you’re going to take over my place as chairman of Greenley Theatre and carry on my, dare I say it, good work, on the ‘Save Greenley Theatre’ campaign.
Think of it as one of those New Year, New You, type things!
Good luck, my dear. I know you’ll make me proud.
Lots of love,
Nan
P.S. I haven’t actually arranged this with the committee yet so that will be your first job. Have fun!
Chapter 1 (#u98fa5105-ff75-57a4-ac53-4bd1f6717769)
Lottie waited outside her house for Sid, her colleague and best friend, to pick her up. She checked her watch and rolled her eyes. He was late, as usual. In all the years she’d known him he’d never been able to get anywhere on time – even primary school. After five more minutes of shuffling to stay warm she saw his battered old car round the corner and hid the box behind her back.
‘Here you go,’ she said as she climbed in.
‘You got me an Easter egg,’ Sid replied, smiling. It was an Incredible Hulk one.
‘I couldn’t resist.’
‘Me neither.’ He handed over a large posh box.
Lottie giggled and had a quick look at the huge milk chocolate egg covered in a white chocolate drizzle. Her mouth began to water. ‘You’re the best.’ Sid’s grin grew wider. Lottie tucked the egg down by her feet while Sid tossed his onto the backseat where it was cushioned by a mound of rubbish and they headed to the first job of the day.
Lottie leaned forward and peeked at the picture on his top. ‘Don’t you think that T-shirt’s a bit off for meeting an old lady?’
