THE WOMAN AT NUMBER 24 BY JULIET ASHTON
PAPERBACK PUBLISHED BY SIMON AND SCHUSTER 20TH APRIL 2017
ISBN 9781471158896
Welcome to the number 24, a Georgina Villa in West London that is home to five separate families and five very different lives.
Up in the eves Sarah finds that recovering from a nasty divorce is even more heartbreaking when your ex husband lives on the floor beneath you with his new wife. Their happiness floats up beneath the floorboards, taunting her. A child psychologist, Sarah has picked up great sadness from the little girl, Una, who lives with her careworn mother three floors below, but Sarah emotionally equipped to reach out.
Spring brings a new couple to number 24. Jane and Tom’s zest for life revives the flagging house, and Sarah can’t deny the instant attraction to handsome Tom. Having seen at first hand what infidelity does to people, she’ll never act on it but the air fizzes with potential.
The sunshine doesn’t reach every corner of number 24, however, Elderly Mavis, tucked away in the basement, has kept the world at bay for decades. She’s about to find out that she can’t hide forever.
PART OF THE PROLOGUE
Sarah tried to leave straight after the register office ceremony, but Leo wouldn’t hear of it. He persuaded her to wait for the speeches back at the flat, then insisted she stay for the cutting of the cake. We’ll have a boogie later, he’d laughed as the music began.
No boogie had been had. Leo offered only scraps a consolation prize underlined what Sarah had lost. When she finally slipped away, Leo was engrossed in his bride. He didn’t notice her leave, and nobody else tried to stop her mostly they marvelled that she was there at all.
Out on the landing the bass banged in Sarah’s ears as she eased off her shoes and rubbed her complaining toes. It was time to go home. Bed was all she wanted. Her chase bed, no longer rumpled by the long legs of her man.
ABOUT AUTHOR JULIET ASHTON
At home in Surrey JULIET ASHTON writes all day in her small study while her two dogs stare at her. The rest of her house, which is full of music and her books and comfy places to sit, she shares with her thirteen year old daughter and her husband,who’s a composer hence the music. She believes wholeheartedly in the power of books to improve lives, increase understanding and while away happy hours.
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