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Freya North
Chances
Copyright
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
Copyright © Freya North 2011
Freya North asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for 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 nonexclusive, nontransferable 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: 9780007326662
Ebook Edition © 2011 ISBN: 9780007326679 Version: 2017-11-28
Dedication
For Mummy
Lovely, funny, beautiful – and so very very brave. A woman of worth, indeed.
With love,
Your Chief Sherpa
Epigraph
All discarded lovers should be given a second chance
– but with somebody else
MAE WEST
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
That Shop
Oliver and Jonty
The Tree Houses
Michelle and Candy
Tinker, Spike and Boz
Something for the Weekend
The George and Dragon
The Thorpe Arms
Suzie Vs Candy
Rick
North London
Location Location Location
And So to Bed
Sting
Flower Man and Tree Fella
Tim and Vita and Rick
Helpful Unhelpful Thoughts
Suzie Vs Vita
T.P.O
The Cagoule
The Wretched Cagoule
Suzie
The Wasp Catchers
Beer and Jam
Roots
Mr Whippy
Post-Mortem
Sunday
Dermott Hogan
Day Trippers
Tim and Vita
Jamie Oliver Oliver
Jonty
The Cowgirl
Helping Hands
Tristan Tree
The Wynfordbury Taxicab
Tim and Suzie and Vita
Parenting
Elsie Mackenzie
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Keep Reading – The Way Back Home
Up close and personal with Freya
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Acclaim for...
About the Author
Also by Freya North
About the Publisher
That Shop
Sitting in her shop, That Shop, on the stool behind the counter (an old console table which was for sale and had been since she opened three years ago), Vita kept her head down, nose buried in her book, yet managed surreptitiously to watch the elderly lady whilst wondering what she’d allow her to nick today. A fortnight ago, it had been a small jar of pastel-coloured guest soaps in the shapes of seashells. Prior to that, an ashtray, brass, in the shape of a Moroccan slipper. Vita didn’t think the old lady smoked, she thought her vice might be little more than the occasional sherry and shoplifting. Fascinating. And why had she stolen that tin of mini sparklers with ‘Wedding Wishes’ embossed on the lid? Not that Vita had minded – they were on offer anyway. The most expensive thing the lady had swiped had been the small pewter noughts and crosses set – but there again, no one had expressed any interest in it.
Sometimes,
