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A Sister’s Sorrow
Kitty Neale
It’s Sarah and her brother against the world…When Sarah Jepson’s mother Annie dies, Sarah is left with her little brother Tommy to care for. Alone in the world, the two of them must make a life for themselves in the wake of the terrible upbringing they have endured.But when Tommy is struck down by illness, Sarah’s new life collapses. Lost in grief, she turns to the handsome Roger to save her – only to find that he is not who he seems…Waiting in the wings is George – kind, but brutally scarred, Sarah’s never seen him as anything more than a friend. But could all that be about to change?The Sunday Times bestseller is back in a heartbreaking, moving tale of triumph against all the odds.
KITTY NEALE
A Sister’s Sorrow
A division of HarperCollinsPublishers
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
Copyright (#u1a90d826-4cce-5707-b4d6-70a8b73218f0)
Published by AVON
A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2019
Copyright © Kitty Neale 2019
Cover design © Debbie Clement 2019
Kitty Neale 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 ebook 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.
Source ISBN: 9780008270889
Ebook Edition © February 2019 ISBN: 9780008270896
Version: 2018-10-24
Dedication (#u1a90d826-4cce-5707-b4d6-70a8b73218f0)
For my husband
Sweet love of mine and best friend too,
I’m blown away by all you do.
My life is enriched because of you.
One love, one life, a love so true.
Now we’re here, we made it through,
Many would have faltered, but no, not you.
We’re strong, we’re great and we’re together,
Eternally, I’ll be yours forever.
Before this ends, there’s just one more thing …
Because of who you are, I’m so proud to wear
your ring xxx
Table of Contents
Cover (#ue2e0c873-c319-5100-8db6-0e3165c82162)
Title Page (#u536b1d8e-f618-5a7c-b4e7-ddb42e1c7fba)
Copyright (#u86a5aea8-791e-5c77-8dc8-78df84ea3771)
Dedication (#ua0f58ab8-5326-5955-a459-4d3414560794)
Chapter 1 (#u4c2476d9-65bd-5918-8f02-0e768b3ae61a)
Chapter 2 (#u938e41d7-7757-5ef6-9260-c297304f7662)
Chapter 3 (#u1a9d78bc-099d-519c-9b68-8f40f37819bc)
Chapter 4 (#u5c09dd44-1941-5f66-99ed-fe1ed5b3915a)
Chapter 5 (#ue4c6fae6-9dc0-57d5-a4d8-d77e016c100d)
Chapter 6 (#ua359ecfd-1457-5fa2-8ad2-ea0adebe79c9)
Chapter 7 (#u06fec7bd-ea8d-5b4f-a457-aae51dca9584)
Chapter 8 (#ufebb2f93-52f2-5de7-8650-188fa1792bd3)
Chapter 9 (#u8fbc6213-2eea-501f-abdc-714a97d5439d)
Chapter 10 (#u12fbf647-a5c1-55a0-a89e-66854cf768f0)
Chapter 11 (#u004a5e6b-d17a-50e0-a9b7-db77093a1535)
Chapter 12 (#u93958afa-6f8f-5625-98c7-af21d465a371)
Chapter 13 (#u25deef79-6cf0-50fe-80c9-69a32617dbb0)
Chapter 14 (#u6a082d67-7b78-55cd-b4ba-d931b4ddbcd6)
Chapter 15 (#uaa504970-cfd5-5803-b196-0e7d08c0341b)
Chapter 16 (#u5975902d-0881-5fc4-84b7-8ae63ba82a64)
Chapter 17 (#uc1b46a96-b929-5082-9cc2-d671d52f221d)
Chapter 18 (#u149d3d5c-2a74-52de-bb05-297ec8d0c7c5)
Chapter 19 (#u3cec142d-fcc8-5abd-ae83-b3c36dfd1908)
Chapter 20 (#u0f2ea8e4-2d3d-5c37-aab7-027fb137c2e4)
Chapter 21 (#ue7b159bd-3061-5691-b829-95f0f039e61c)
Chapter 22 (#u59c8f842-3840-53d0-ba1d-aedd8d5ad608)
Chapter 23 (#ueefb194f-e036-536d-a67c-21857bdb20ed)
Chapter 24 (#u6a62e519-93ff-543a-902c-a6f9c9b55659)
Chapter 25 (#u0cc57b08-21b5-50be-9bbd-0f94c26dca4e)
Chapter 26 (#ua97016f0-9926-56b8-b7fe-18ed10e52c2c)
Chapter 27 (#u55fa3219-26c3-53bf-b19c-d5a2ff861380)
Chapter 28 (#ua1591d70-26da-57b4-a664-b46f4273c5cb)
Chapter 29 (#u30a33946-daa8-5b95-a198-687d6b35ee35)
Chapter 30 (#uf62b3e9a-8db7-5378-a094-c7d450eeb999)
Chapter 31 (#ue9b23c64-b465-59f7-b144-fa48a5688880)
Chapter 32 (#uc074e981-7a67-5328-bd29-423fbe6151c0)
Chapter 33 (#u1ea80549-36c0-5e55-b39e-390dbae5a370)
Chapter 34 (#u542d8637-17c8-530c-80e6-975872bc5d9b)
Chapter 35 (#u809a8ba6-38aa-5c51-b691-9b8924b8d092)
Chapter 36 (#u61ad9863-29f9-5a59-8c8c-684fc35a3e3f)
Chapter 37 (#u26a4580a-9203-5f63-ba18-c85b3b8713ad)
Chapter 38 (#u09cf676a-e3f6-5476-854a-b59b6d9d2ca8)
Chapter 39 (#uf900d7e8-7365-5692-992e-a0d5a76ac3d6)
Chapter 40 (#ua0df2951-a0ae-56d7-89ed-c874bf8bde8e)
Chapter 41 (#ucd5cce0c-93b7-5e96-85e5-73ce97347237)
Chapter 42 (#ud14e7e66-e5e0-566f-a5cd-4bd1b54b3b1a)
Chapter 43 (#u4112f7f5-6d11-5fbc-9502-e26ee1d75723)
Chapter 44 (#u1083ee67-dc1b-5b9d-8579-d44f77f18cf5)
Chapter 45 (#u2ab8871d-df11-5d33-a9c3-c5948883e5c1)
Chapter 46 (#uf8bb51ba-95dd-5046-8b13-5ca5229128b7)
Chapter 47 (#u59bce03f-4711-52bd-9a01-12e177db7066)
Chapter 48 (#u7a67d045-0f43-596f-b358-c8fe7dc297fd)
Chapter 49 (#u59023310-f8d4-591d-81d5-de1e17171a84)
Chapter 50 (#u30071098-5c18-534f-b2ff-71534d0555e1)
Chapter 51 (#uc641143d-8ef1-528e-b9ba-450132d1b0a4)
Chapter 52 (#u68a97d87-f74f-5516-8a41-925507732f93)
About the Author (#u0b4a29db-c385-5011-b884-37ed35be8c10)
By the Same Author (#ua93940e7-b329-5227-9d23-e071135d9464)
About the Publisher (#u65abca06-4e90-52ee-8c08-ececfd80694b)
Chapter 1 (#u1a90d826-4cce-5707-b4d6-70a8b73218f0)
Battersea, London, 1948
Sarah Jepson’s legs jigged under her desk as she anxiously waited for the school bell to ring for home time. Her mother Annie had woken up with labour pains that morning, and Sarah was desperately worried about her.
Earlier, when Sarah had shown concern, her mum had told her to bugger off and go to school. She’d called her useless and said she’d be no bloody help. Comments like that weren’t unusual and hadn’t surprised Sarah. She was used to her mother’s contemptuous remarks, and though they hurt, she tried her best to ignore them.
At last, the bell trilled, and Sarah hurriedly placed her books in her desk before dashing out of the classroom and then through the school gates. Dirty rainwater splashed the backs of her skinny legs as she ran through the narrow streets of run-down terraced houses. I wish I could fly, she thought, sprinting as fast as she could, as her thin coat billowed out behind her. It was at least two sizes too small, so she couldn’t button it up. It did little to keep out the chill of the cold October wind, or protect her from the hammering rain. Sarah didn’t care about the stormy weather, she just wanted to get back home and silently prayed that everything would be all right this time.
