Manning The right of Sarra Manning to be identified as the Author of the Work ha s been asserted by her in accordance with

the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Extract from Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster 1905, reproduced with kind permission from The Provost and Scholars of King s College, Cambridge an d The Society of Authors as the Literary Representative of the Estate of E.M. Fo rster. Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic pr oduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licen sing Agency. First published as an Ebook by Headline Publishing Group in 2009 Al l characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real pers ons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. eISBN : 978 0 7553 5683 6 This Eboo k produced by Jouve Digitalisation des Informations Every effort has been made t o fulfil requirements with regard to reproducing copyright material. The author and publisher will be glad to rectify any omissions at the earliest opportunity. Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP An Hachette livre UK Company 338 Euston Road London NW1 3BH

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Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Acknowledgements chapter one chapter two chapter three chapter four chapter five chapter six chap ter seven chapter eight chapter nine chapter ten chapter eleven chapter twelve c hapter thirteen chapter fourteen chapter fifteen chapter sixteen chapter sevente en chapter eighteen chapter nineteen chapter twenty chapter twenty-one chapter t wenty-two chapter twenty-three chapter twenty-four chapter twenty-five chapter t wenty-six chapter twenty-seven chapter twenty-eight chapter twenty-nine chapter thirty chapter thirty-one

chapter thirty-two chapter thirty-three chapter thirty-four chapter thirty-five chapter thirty-six chapter thirty-seven chapter thirty-eight chapter thirty-nine chapter forty chapter forty-one chapter forty-two chapter forty-three

Dedicated to the memory of Kate Jones, who mentored both book and author.

thanks To Gordon and Joanne Shaw, Sarah Bailey and Kate Hodges for all their long-suffe ring support. My aunt, Lesley Lawson, for shared writerly woes. And Pavel Zoubok of the Pavel Zoubok Gallery in New Y for allowing his brains to ork be picked. My agent, Karolina Sutton, Laura Sampson and all at Curtis Brown. Catherine Coba in, Harriet Evans and Sara Porter at Headline.

I seem fated to pass through the world without colliding with it or moving it - a nd I m sure I can t tell you whether the fate s good or evil. I don t die - I don t fall i n love. And if other people die or fall in love they always do it when I m just no t there. Where Angels Fear to Tread, E. M. Forster

chapter one I just don t love you, he said. It was the most brutal dumping Grace had ever had. A nd she d had a few. But if Grace was being honest with herself, which didn t happen often, then it wasn t a complete surprise. She d seen the light gradually dim in Lia m s eyes like a torch with dying batteries. He d begun to look at her in this bemuse d way, as if the actual dating was a major letdown after the months they d spent s kirting around each other and snogging furiously as they waited for the night bu s. He d even stopped holding her hand when they crossed the street, so Grace didn t need to be a cartographer to read the signs: being dumped was inevitable. But sh e d never expecte