The Longing: A bestselling psychological thriller you won’t be able to put down. Jane Asher
Читать онлайн книгу.
The characters and events in this book are entirely fictional. No reference to any person, living or dead, is intended or should be inferred.
HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
This edition 1997
First published in Great Britain by
HarperCollinsPublishers 1996
Copyright © Jane Asher 1996
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2017 Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com
Jane Asher asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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: 9780007571826
Ebook Edition © DECEMBER 2013 ISBN: 9780007571826 Version: 2017-12-18
HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.
To Gerald
THE LONGING
Celebrated British actress of stage and screen, Jane Asher is also well known for her many other activities, especially her non-fiction books and journalism and her successful cake making business. The Longing is her stunning debut novel, and was published in hardcover to widespread acclaim in 1996. She lives in London, with her husband and three children, and is working on her second novel.
Critical acclaim for The Longing:
‘Topical, emotion-charged, [The Longing] grips from the first page and conveys with extraordinary vividness the terrible anguish experienced by couples who cannot start their longed-for baby.’
VAL HENNESSY, Daily Mail
‘A writer who does convey real emotional power . . . The Longing is a story about infertility: the desperation that overtakes couples who can’t conceive and the tragic consequences of that desperation. Like all really good novels, it is true – not in the factual sense, but in the way that its characters seem real and the world in which they move is one we recognise. Even better, its power increases as it goes on, drawing you further into its plot, gripping more tightly with every page . . . if Jane Asher were not already famous, this book would make her so.’
Daily Express
‘Thought provoking, polished and professional, a modern tale of Gothic horror.’
The Times
‘Strong dialogue drives the plot along and short, intercutting scenes add structure and drama.’
TLS
‘Tightly plotted and pacily told.’
Daily Telegraph
‘An absorbing and thought-provoking read.’
Eastern Daily Press
‘A taut psychological thriller . . . she deftly weaves each strand of the very clever plot, keeping the reader tied to every last word.’
Belfast Telegraph
‘Asher undoubtedly has an eye for character. The Longing is a good, if emotionally draining read.’
Punch
‘A celebrity novel from, at last, a celebrity who can actually write them.’
SHERIDAN MORLEY, Sunday Times
Contents