Paper Chains Read online

  ‘How romantic,’ said Hannah, not quite sure what else to say as she took the letter.

  ‘You think? Personally, I think it’s getting a bit passé. Maybe it was romantic, like, three months ago when it first started, but, you know, whatever.’

  Hannah couldn’t help but smile as she was called forward to check her bags.

  India would have absolutely loved this.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  A gigantic thank you to Steve Menasse, Diane Moriarty and Jaci Moriarty for reading my earliest drafts and giving me so much incredible feedback and encouragement. I’m also grateful to Liane Moriarty for listening to the original idea for this story and providing advice and support.

  Thank you to Sally Findlay for being my Elizabeth, to Kelly Murray for letting me borrow your Facebook status and to Min Lyman, Brooke MacDonald and Kerry Lockwood for helping me out with my medical research.

  Pippa Masson at Curtis Brown is the best agent a writer could wish for and Beverley Cousins, Patrick Mangan and Annabel Adair at Random House all worked very hard to make this book complete.

  To all of my family and friends, thank you for your continued support, especially to Steve, Maddie and Piper for being amazing.

  To any readers and book bloggers who have contacted me via email, Facebook and Twitter – you don’t know how much that means to me: hearing your kind feedback makes me infinitely happy.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Nicola Moriarty lives in Sydney’s north-west with her husband and two small (but remarkably strong-willed) daughters. She is currently studying an Arts degree with a Writing major at Macquarie University. Her first novel, Free-Falling, was published in February 2012.

  Praise for Nicola Moriarty’s debut, Free-Falling

  ‘Free-Falling is funny, edgy and real’ Courier Mail

  ‘A wonderful book. I enjoyed reading it so much I didn’t want it to end’ Deborah Rodriguez, author of The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul

  ‘Just read Free-Falling and loved it. What a debut!’ Ber Carroll, author of The Better Woman

  ‘Sad but uplifting, bittersweet yet humorous, Free-Falling is a fantastic debut novel that kept me hooked right until the end’ Great Aussie Reads

  ‘Free-Falling is a sweet tragic-romantic comedy, essentially about how people can be separated by grief . . . It is gentle and pleasant and worth recommending to those who want a light summer read’ Australian Bookseller & Publisher

  ‘Full of heartfelt moments and nicely conceived outcomes’ West Weekend

  ‘Moriarty has such a deft touch with humour and whimsy that her debut is thoroughly appealing and deliciously readable’ Read In A Single Sitting

  ‘I was captivated by this novel’ Book’d Out

  ‘Unexpectedly hopeful and funny’ Jaye Ford, author of Beyond Fear

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Version 1.0

  Paper Chains

  ePub 9781742752631

  Copyright © Nicola Moriarty 2013

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  A Bantam book

  Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd

  Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060

  www.randomhouse.com.au

  Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at http://www.randomhouse.com.au/about/contacts.aspx

  First published by Bantam in 2013

  National Library of Australia

  Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

  Moriarty, Nicola.

  Paper chains [electronic resource] / Nicola Moriarty.

  9781742752631 (ebook)

  A823.4

  Cover design by Nada Backovic

  Cover images: (two young women) Oliver Rossi/Getty Images; other images courtesy of Shutterstock

  Typesetting and eBook production by Midland Typesetters, Australia

  Loved the book?

  * * *

  Join thousands of other readers online at

  AUSTRALIAN READERS:

  randomhouse.com.au/talk

  NEW ZEALAND READERS:

  randomhouse.co.nz/talk

  * * *