The Reservoir Tapes

The Reservoir Tapes
Jon McGregor

As broadcast on BBC radio 4: the fifteen ‘prequel’ stories to the Costa Award-WinningReservoir 13.‘He leaves behind all other writers of his generation’ Sarah HallMidwinter in the early years of this century. A teenage girl on holiday has gone missing in the hills at the heart of England. The villagers are called up to join the search, fanning out across the moors as the police set up roadblocks and a crowd of news reporters descends on their usually quiet home.But the aftershocks of Becky Shaw’s disappearance have origins long before then, and those in the village have losses, and secrets, and stories of their own…A woman remembers a son’s inexperience – and a father’s rage; a young wife pushes against the boundaries of her marriage, whilst an older one finds ways to ensure the survival of hers. A hunt for a birthday present takes an alarming turn, and a teenage game grows serious.Fresh hurts open old wounds, salvation comes from unexpected quarters and chance encounters release long-buried memories.First broadcast as a series of specially commissioned stories on BBC Radio 4, The Reservoir Tapes returns to the territory of the Booker-longlisted Reservoir 13, revealing the web of connections that bind us, and the many layers on which we all build our truths.

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Copyright (#uf337ae0c-ca6e-52ce-ba66-0b2125be437f)

4th Estate

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This eBook first published in Great Britain by 4th Estate in 2017

Copyright © 2017 Jon McGregor

Cover photographs © Shutterstock.com

Jon McGregor 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 collection 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.

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Source ISBN: 9780008235635

Ebook Edition © December 2017 ISBN: 9780008235642

Version: 2018-06-26

Contents

Cover (#ubd719f5f-1b4f-55a6-80f0-19e12b700eeb)

Title Page (#uc82dafc4-1f05-5a60-88be-f0975f0e3d40)

Copyright (#ud03cba9b-4209-5df6-8ddc-d67725b7d354)

1: Charlotte (#u3e196de1-14dd-5008-b016-f95c9f367897)

2: Vicky (#u5a91f35e-2252-5565-9700-621b8297be79)

3: Deepak (#u3360d916-ae3b-5d09-93b6-ed6d5ad204fa)

4: Graham (#ube842b76-0687-5730-b69c-cc71e5be14e4)

5: Liam (#litres_trial_promo)

6: Claire (#litres_trial_promo)

7: Clive (#litres_trial_promo)

8: Martin (#litres_trial_promo)

9: Stephanie (#litres_trial_promo)

10: Donna (#litres_trial_promo)

11: Ian (#litres_trial_promo)

12: Irene (#litres_trial_promo)

13: Ginny (#litres_trial_promo)

14: Jess (#litres_trial_promo)

15: Joe (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by Jon McGregor (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

1: Charlotte (#uf337ae0c-ca6e-52ce-ba66-0b2125be437f)

Could you

I’d like to hear about that day, before anything happened.

Just, from the beginning.

You’d been staying in the village for how long?

And you’d come back because the previous visit had gone so well, last summer?

And you knew the Hunter family. You got on with them.

So it was an easy decision, to come back for a winter break.