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First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2019
FIRST EDITION
© Brian O’Connell 2019
Illustrations © Micaela Alcaino 2019
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2019
Cover images © shutterstock.com
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Brian O’Connell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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Source ISBN: 9780008321345
Ebook Edition © October 2019 ISBN: 9780008321352
Version: 2019-09-06
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Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780008321345
‘Just for a second, I thought I lost myself,
And I watched my body falling,
And all the colours look brighter now.’
Brian Carey, RIP
Contents
1 Cover
2 Title Page
3 Copyright
4 Note to Readers
5 Dedication
6 Contents
7 Introduction
8 PART ONE: LOVE AND LOSS
9 When East Meets West
10 A Ringless Marriage
11 A Dress for the (Middle) Ages
12 A Chance Encounter of a Shocking Kind
13 A Long Engagement
14 Addicted to Love?
15 A Marriage Worth Waiting For
16 PART TWO: EQUIPPED FOR LIFE
17 The Car That’s Bulletproof
18 For Your Eyes Only
19 Running Up That Hill
20 PART THREE: PETS’ CORNER
21 A Monkey Is for Life – Not Just for Christmas
22 Finding Shangri-La
23 Making It Pig in Hollywood
24 PART FOUR: ARTICLES OF WAR
25 Married to the Past
26 ‘Grow Wheat – The Crop That Pays’
27 Zen and the Art of Phone Box Maintenance
28 Engineering a Step Back in Time
29 The Weight of History
30 PART FIVE: SENTIMENTAL VALUE
31 Rekindling a One in a Million Chance
32 Remains of a Detached Day
33 Giving a Doll’s House a Home
34 PART SIX: COLLECTORS
35 ‘We Are Collectors ... and We Will Die as Collectors’
36 Signing the Past Away
37 PART SEVEN: LOST CAUSES?
38 Being Frank
39 Building a Bigger Shrine
