Michele Gorman - The Happy Home for Ladies - A heartwarming,uplifting novel about friendship and love

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Harper Impulse

an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain as The Perfect Plan to Save Friendship House by Harper Impulse 2018

Copyright © Lilly Bartlett 2018

Cover illustration © Shutterstock

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018

Lilly Bartlett 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: 9780008319663

Ebook Edition © August 2018 ISBN: 9780008319656

Version: 2018-11-02

To my Grandma Gorman, who taught me to dance the Charleston in her kitchen.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page The Happy Home for Ladies LILLY BARTLETT A division of HarperCollins Publishers www.harpercollins.co.uk

Copyright Harper Impulse an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain as The Perfect Plan to Save Friendship House by Harper Impulse 2018 Copyright © Lilly Bartlett 2018 Cover illustration © Shutterstock Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018 Lilly Bartlett 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: 9780008319663 Ebook Edition © August 2018 ISBN: 9780008319656 Version: 2018-11-02

Dedication To my Grandma Gorman, who taught me to dance the Charleston in her kitchen.

Author Note Author Note BEFORE YOU SETTLE IN, WHY NOT SIGN UP? Thank you for downloading Lilly’s book. If you want to hear about special offers, receive bonus content, find out when Lilly’s books go on sale (or are free!) and even get to read her books before they’re published, then sign up for her newsletter! Click here to read Lilly’s next book before it’s published, and maybe even for free!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Acknowledgements

Also by Lilly Bartlett

About the Author

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

BEFORE YOU SETTLE IN, WHY NOT SIGN UP?

Thank you for downloading Lilly’s book.

If you want to hear about special offers, receive bonus content, find out when Lilly’s books go on sale (or are free!) and even get to read her books before they’re published, then sign up for her newsletter!

Click here to read Lilly’s next book before it’s published, and maybe even for free!

‘Well, Mum, I’ve really got to hand it to you this time,’ I tell her, yanking at the snug waistband of my dress. My comment gets carried away, though, by all the chattering going on around us. My parents’ friends talk nineteen to the dozen. ‘You’ve outdone yourself,’ I admit, louder this time. I am trying, though I sound tetchy as tetchy can be. On today of all days too. What am I like?!

I guess she shouldn’t really expect me to take the high road now, just because we’re at a funeral. We’ve never let something as trifling as the spectre of death stand in the way of a good snipe. ‘You were right. As usual.’ And nobody in the entire history of angsty mother-daughter dynamics wants to admit that. Which just shows how much I’ve grown recently as a person.

If I’m being honest, Mum does deserve every bit of credit today. Dad would have chucked a few frozen sausage rolls into the oven and maybe ordered some portions of chips from the cheap chippy that’s on his way home from work. ‘It is the party to end all parties,’ I admit, meeting her green eyes. The eyes that I didn’t inherit. I got Dad’s mud-brown ones instead. I missed out on her film-star legs too. My brother got those and her eyes. I’ve got her allergy to grass and dodgy karaoke voice.

‘It’s just a lot of money to spend on one day. A lot,’ I can’t keep from adding.

Not that she’s listening. Which is typical. She’s always been more interested in making sure everyone’s gobsmacked by her generosity.

The house is heaving with people. I’ve never laid eyes on most of them. They’re packed into the dining room and out back where the French doors lead on to the terrace and into the garden, and around the pool that Dad rushed to open early even though it’s freezing out and nobody in their right mind would turn up with their swimsuit on under their clothes. People are huddling together in the lounge, or the ‘great room’, as Mum makes us call it. I’ve got no idea what a great room is supposed to be, but I guess having a library full of books and a grand piano that’s never had anything but ‘Chopsticks’ played on it qualifies.

Sighing, I say, ‘I’ll go check that Dad’s all right.’ I leave her grinning over another perfect party.

I don’t mean to make my parents sound like nightmares. It’s just that Mum drives me round the bend. And this is us on our best behaviour. You might have guessed that they throw lavish parties, and maybe you can tell that they live in a big house. But if I say it’s Mum’s mission in life to outshine absolutely everyone – which is totally true – you’ll probably start thinking they’re horrible. They’re not, though. It’s just that they worked really hard to start their own business and build themselves up from nothing. Plus, they’re very generous. So hopefully you’ll forgive them for wanting to flash a bit of their success.