Sammy was last seen wearing a long-sleeved yellow T-shirt and blue pyjama shorts. Police are asking for any information that may assist their investigation.
The article was accompanied by the same photo that James Finn had shown me, only this version was in black and white. Sammy’s deep blue eyes appeared black, and her over-exposed face was stark white and mostly featureless.
A little more internet research took me to a photo of Jack and Molly Went, Sammy’s parents. The picture had been taken in the days directly following Sammy’s disappearance, and showed them standing on the steps outside the Manson Sheriff’s Station.
They looked desperately tired, faces tense, fear etched in their eyes. Molly Went in particular looked permanently damaged, as if her spirit had left the body to run on autopilot. Her mouth was twisted into a frown so severe it made her look deranged.
Tracing her features on the screen, I compared Molly Went’s face to my own. We shared the same long, angular nose and droopy eyelids. She seemed much shorter than me, but Jack Went looked well over six foot. The harder I looked the more I could see myself in both of them: Jack Went’s small, pale ears, Molly Went’s posture, Jack’s broad shoulders, Molly’s pointed chin. A little DNA from column A, a little from column B.
Of course, that didn’t mean anything. I feel the same way when I read horoscopes – they’re designed to allow the reader to see what they want.
Do I want to see myself in Jack and Molly Went? I wondered. The question came to me by surprise and soon my mind was buzzing with more. Hadn’t Sammy’s eyes been the same deep blue as mine, and couldn’t those chubby legs of hers have transformed into long skinny pegs like my own, and if Sammy were alive today, wouldn’t we be roughly the same age?
Were Jack and Molly Went still waiting for answers? Did every phone call or knock at the door fill them with hope or dread or some bitter mixture of both? Did they see Sammy’s face in every woman they passed on the street, or had they found a way to move on?
The biggest question of all came like a shard of glass to my consciousness: could Carol Leamy, a woman with a background in social work who spent most of her working life as an HR rep for a company that sold and manufactured picture hooks, really, honestly, ever be capable of—
I stopped myself from going any further. The implications were too great and, frankly, too absurd.
The sound of heavy snoring pulled me from my laptop. Georgia had fallen fast asleep in the green armchair, her glass of wine balanced precariously between thumb and forefinger. I took the wine, switched off the television and covered her legs with a fluffy red throw rug. If history was any guide she’d be asleep for a few hours. She’d then wake around three am to use the toilet before waddling back across the hall.
Leaving Georgia where she was, I crept into my bedroom and climbed into bed. When I fell asleep, I dreamed about a tall man made entirely of shadows. The shadow man appeared outside my bedroom window and reached in with impossibly long arms. He carried me away, down a long, narrow dirt path lined with tall trees.
ALSO BY CHRISTIAN WHITE
The Nowhere Child
Praise for The Nowhere Child
‘A nervy, soulful, genuinely surprising it-could-happen-to-you thriller – a book to make you peer over your shoulder for days afterwards.’
A.J. Finn
‘[White] is a born storyteller, one who seems to instinctively understand the weave of a proper yarn, and The Nowhere Child is tight, gripping and impressive in all the right places.’
The Saturday Paper
‘Hugely entertaining … a multifaceted, unsettling debut.’
The Age
‘The Nowhere Child has everything that comprises an excellent crime novel. It’s taut, raw, emotional, intriguing. The tension becomes unbearable, the story gets creepier as it goes on and the puzzle keeps you reading beyond midnight. Possibilities lurk at the edge of the plot like shadows. Christian White – take a bow.’
Better Reading
‘[White’s] control of the structure of the novel is impressive throughout … He should be emboldened to undertake that notoriously hard task: the second novel.’
The Australian
‘The Nowhere Child is a page-turning labyrinth of twists and turns that moves seamlessly between the past and the present, revealing the story in parts and successfully keeping the reader guessing until the final unexpected reveal … It’s an exhilarating ride and a thrilling debut.’
Books+Publishing magazine
‘An exciting new voice in crime fiction.’
Sunday Life magazine, Fairfax
‘Such a clever idea, which grips from the very first chapter.’
Ragnar Jónasson
‘The Nowhere Child is the personification of a high-concept thriller, brilliantly executed. Author White raises the bar on psychological suspense, telling Kim Leamy’s tale in a stylish voice and with a heart-pounding pace. Read page one, and you won’t stop. Guaranteed.’
Jeffery Deaver
‘The Nowhere Child is compelling and intense. The alternating chapters between past and present are perfectly paced and masterfully written to maximise suspense and lead us down a path of love, hate, redemption, and – ultimately – hope. I literally could not put this book down until I turned the last page. The best debut novel I’ve read in years.’
Allison Brennan
‘The Nowhere Child is pure dynamite. You do not want to miss this book!’
Linda Castillo
‘White skilfully builds an uncertain, noxious world of dysfunctional families and small-town secrets – The Nowhere Child is a gripping debut from an exceptional new talent.’
Mark Brandi
‘How do any of us know that we are who we are told we are? This gripping read takes you to the very edge of reality.’
Jane Caro
‘Beautifully written, perfectly suspenseful and wonderfully dark. I could not put this book down.’
Susi Holliday
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christian White is an Australian author and screenwriter whose projects include feature film Relic. His bestselling first book, The Nowhere Child, was sold into 16 territories and has been acquired in a major screen deal. You can sign up for email updates here.
Christian lives in Melbourne with his wife, Summer DeRoche, and their adopted greyhound, Issy.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Prologue
1. The Widow
2. The Wife
3. The Widow
4. The Wife
5. The Widow
6. The Wife
7. The Widow
8. The Wife
9. The Widow
10. The Wife
11. The Widow
12. The Wife
13. The Widow
14. The Wife
15. The Widow
16. The Wife
17. The Widow
18. The Wife
19. The Widow
20. The Wife
21. The Widow
22. The Wife
23. The Widow
24. The Wife
25. The Widow
26. The Wife
27. The Widow
28. The Wife
29. The Widow
30. The Wife
31. The Wife and the Widow
32. The Wife
33. The Widow
&n
bsp; Author’s Note
Acknowledgements
Excerpt: The Nowhere Child
Also by Christian White
Praise for The Nowhere Child
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
THE WIFE AND THE WIDOW. Copyright © 2019 by Christian White. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact your local bookseller or the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
Originally published in Australia by Affirm Press
First U.S. Edition: January 2020
eISBN 9781250194381
First eBook edition: December 2019
The Wife and the Widow Page 24
