Paullina Simons: Inexpressible Island

The conclusion of the End of Forever saga

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

The News Building

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty Ltd in 2019

This edition in Great Britain 2019

Copyright © Paullina Simons

Cover design by HarperCollins Design Studio

Cover images: Hands by Lee Avison / Trevillion Images (Houses of Parliament); hand by Paullina Simons; Part title illustrations by Paullina Simons

Author photo by Tatiana Ryan

Paullina Simons 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 e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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: 9780007441693

Ebook Edition © August 2019 ISBN: 9780007441709

Version: 2019-11-08

Tully

“You’ll never look at life in the same way again. Pick up this book and prepare to have your emotions wrung so completely you’ll be sobbing your heart out one minute and laughing through your tears the next. Read it and weep—literally.”

Company

Red Leaves

“Simons handles her characters and setting with skill, slowly peeling away deceptions to reveal denial, cowardice and chilling indifference … an engrossing story.”

Publishers Weekly

Eleven Hours

“ Eleven Hours is a harrowing, hair-raising story that will keep you turning the pages late into the night.”

Janet Evanovich

The Bronze Horseman

“A love story both tender and fierce” ( Publishers Weekly ) that “recalls Dr. Zhivago. ” ( People Magazine )

The Bridge to Holy Cross

“This has everything a romance glutton could wish for: a bold, talented and dashing hero [and] a heart-stopping love affair that nourishes its two protagonists even when they are separated and lost.”

Daily Mail

The Girl in Times Square

“Part mystery, part romance, part family drama … in other words, the perfect book.”

Daily Mail

The Summer Garden

“If you’re looking for a historical epic to immerse yourself in, then this is the book for you.”

Closer

Road to Paradise

“One of our most exciting writers … Paullina Simons presents the perfect mix of page-turning plot and characters.”

Woman and Home

A Song in the Daylight

“Simons shows the frailties of families and of human nature, and demonstrates that there’s so much more to life, such as honesty and loyalty.”

Good Reading

Bellagrand

“Another epic saga from Simons, full of the emotion and heartache of the original trilogy. Summer reading at its finest.”

Canberra Times

Lone Star

“Another epic love story—perfect reading for a long, lazy day in bed.”

Better Reading

To my four children “L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.”

“What punishments of God are not gifts?”

J.R.R. Tolkien

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Praise for Paullina Simons

Dedication

Epigraph

Prologue: The Two of Them

Part One: London Pride

1. Anonymous

2. It Didn’t Have To Be This Way

3. Once

4. The Importance of Being Julian

5. Wild

6. Musketeers

7. Folgate

8. Tales of Love and Hate

9. Cripplegate

10. Blood Brothers

11. Mia, Mia

12. Falling Beams

13. Gold Rings

14. Gone with the Wind

15. The Great Fire

16. Finch and Frankie

17. Ghost Bride and Johnny Blaze

18. Deepest Shelter in Town

19. A House on Grimsby Street

20. Lunch at the Ten Bells

21. Empty Igloo

22. A Girl Named Maria

23. Two Prayers

24. Mytholmroyd

25. Land of Hope and Glory

26. Dream Machine

27. Cargo Cult

Part Two: Trace Decay

28. Morecambe Bay

29. Junk Shop

30. The One-Eyed King

31. Dark Equinox

32. Fathers and Sons

33. Silver Angel

34. Seven Stars

35. Perennial Live-Forevers

Part Three: Future Imperfect

36. Phantasmagoria in Two, Take 2

37. Paradiso and Purgatorio

38. Hollywood Hills

39. A Dress for Beatrice

40. Free Licks

41. Crystal of Souls

42. Inferno

43. The Julian by Diane von Furstenberg

44. Mystique and Doctor Doom

45. Powers Devours

46. Hey Baby

47. Pink Palace

48. Big Ben

49. Everything Forever

50. The Dungeon of the Haunted Warlord

Acknowledgements

Keep Reading …

About the Author

By the same author

About the Publisher

WAY DOWN WE GO.

“Julian, I’m going to tell you a story,” Ashton said, “about a rider and a preacher. The rider bet his only horse that the preacher could not recite the Lord’s Prayer without his thoughts wandering. The bet was gladly accepted, and the holy man began to mouth the familiar words. Halfway through, he stopped and said, ‘Did you mean the saddle also?’”

“That is not a story about a rider and a preacher,” Julian said. “It’s a story about how to lose a horse.”

“Ashton, why aren’t you eating my Kjøttkaker ?” Julian’s mother said.

“Oh, he doesn’t like it, Mom,” Julian said. “He told me when you were in the kitchen. He doesn’t care for your Norwegian cooking.”

“Julian!”

“Ignore him, Mrs. C,” Ashton said. “I love your meatballs. You know he’s just trying to get a rise out of you.”

“Consider me risen. Why do you do that, son?”

“Do what, Mom, joke around?”

“Mrs. C,” Ashton said with a mouth full of Kjøttkaker , “the other day your son told me I was like a brother he never had.”

“Julian!” yelled his mother and five brothers.

“Jules, remember to look both ways before you go fuck yourself,” said his brother Harlan.

“Funny, I was about to say the same thing to Ashton,” Julian said. Ashton laughed and laughed.

Julian’s mother made Ashton’s favorite for dessert: lefse —rolled up sweet flatbread sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.