Cath Staincliffe: Half the World Away

‘I’m going back one day,’ she says.

My heart turns over. ‘Right.’

‘Not yet. I know I’m not ready yet,’ she says. ‘And I’ll need to save up. I could probably stay with Shona. I’m sure I could get a job with one of the English schools eventually, and Rosemary would help me apply. It might be hard, bad days, but that’d be the same wherever I was. And there must be some therapists there.’

‘Right,’ I say again. A wash of fear and panic laps at the back of my mind but I ignore it, instead cleaving to the burst of elation that swells in my chest. See the set of her jaw, the determination in her eyes. ‘You are brilliant, you know that?’ I tell her. ‘I am so, so proud of you.’

She opens her arms and comes to me. And I bite my teeth together tight and breathe through my nose and blink like mad and hold her, hold her close.

Lori in the Ori-ent

Part 2

Posted on 30 February 2016 by Lori

Nĭ hăo! I’m back. Apologies for the long absence but I was a bit tied up. (Sorry, sometimes the darkest, weirdest humour helps.)

Most of you will know things got very bad for a while and I’ve been home in the UK. Please send thoughts and prayers and love to the family of Bai Lijuan and, if you can possibly manage it, give donations to Missing Overseas. They are an amazing charity who were there for my family at the most difficult time. To those of you who left messages, many, many thanks, you are awesome. If you don’t know what I’m on about, or need to know any more, search Bai Lijuan and Lorelei Maddox.

I’m going to draw a line under all that now.

Here is the line.

A little wobbly but unbroken.

So… what’s new in Chengdu?

My building is gone! You turn your back for five minutes… Gobbled up by development. Here are the before and after pics. Mine is the stylish blue block on the left. As you can see in the picture, the new apartments are already occupied. All twenty-eight floors of them.

One place I never got to visit is Flower Town so I’ll be making a trip soon and reporting back. I’m pleased to say the hotpot is still as fierce as I remember and the park is as beautiful. Now we just need some of that weather engineering. How about it, guys? Sunny Chengdu, pearl of the Sichuan Riviera!

Klaxon! I’m proud to announce the opening of a new gallery space on the fourteenth of next month. More publicity coming soon but the inaugural exhibition will feature framed photos by me, original pieces of amazing jewellery by Shona Munro, and prints and etchings by Mo Nuwa, one of Chengdu’s most inventive emerging artists. Our preview will feature a live DJ and cocktails courtesy of Bar None.

It’s sooo good to be back.

And I leave you with a few words from Xue Tao’s poem, ‘West Cliff’.

Raising my wine against the wind , I wave my hand.

Zài jiàn.

Lxxx

Thank you, xiè xie , to everyone who helped me research this book. In England: my partner Tim, Joe, Lynda, Lan and Xi Lei, fellow author Peter May, Detective Superintendent Kevin Duffy (Retd) and Matt Searle at Missing Abroad. In Ireland: my sister Sarah. And in China: my son Dan, Cookie, Stephanie, Cynthia, Jarriane, Mrs Zhou, Joanna from the Bookworm Chengdu, Dawn, Elizabeth and Ricky from Chinese Corner, and Professor He Jiahong – also a crime writer. And I promise – none of you appear in the book, though things you said may well do!

Dreaming In Chinese , by Deborah Fallows, was a great introduction to Chinese language and culture.

Many thanks to my agent Sara, editor Krystyna and all her team at Constable & Robinson, and to my writing group: Mary Sharratt, Sue Stern and Melanie Amri, for invaluable feedback and encouragement.

I have invented the charity Missing Overseas, inspired by the work of Missing Abroad, but I have altered procedures at times to suit my story. I have also taken some liberties with the geography of Chengdu.

Cath Staincliffeis an established novelist, radio playwright and creator of ITV’s hit series, Blue Murder , starring Caroline Quentin as DCI Janine Lewis. Cath was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Best First Novel award for her acclaimed Sal Kilkenny series, and for the Dagger in the Library award in 2006. Her latest stand-alone novels all focus on topical moral dilemmas. She was joint winner of the CWA Short Story Dagger award in 2012 for Laptop . She is a founding member of Murder Squad, a group who promote crime fiction.

www.cathstaincliffe.co.uk