The Secret Letter

The Secret Letter
Kerry Barrett

I signed the letter with a flourish. I wouldn’t send it. There was no need. But I wanted to keep it somewhere safe, somewhere I could find it if I ever needed to remember why I’d done what I’d done.  The fight goes on, I told myself.  The fight goes on… London, 1910.  Twenty-one-year-old Esther Watkins would do anything for the Suffragette cause. Imprisoned, force-fed and beaten, she is determined to fight for what she believes is right – no matter what it costs her.  With new love Joseph by her side, will she get the better future she dreams of? Kent, 2019.  With her marriage in tatters, school teacher Lizzie Armstrong moves to sleepy Elm Heath for a fresh start, and her pupils and the community soon steal her heart.  So when the school is threatened with closure Lizzie knows she has to fight, and she looks to the school’s founder for inspiration.    What makes Esther, born and bred in London, a proud Suffragette, suddenly leave the city and escape to Elm Heath? And when Lizzie uncovers Esther’s heartbreaking secret, could it give her the strength she needs to save not just the school, but her new beginning too?  A heart-wrenching and uplifting novel for fans of Emily Gunnis, Kathleen McGurl and Kathryn Hughes.   Readers love Kerry Barrett: ‘All Kerry Barrett's books are brilliant’ ‘I'd highly recommend this: detective fiction, historical fiction, powerful, moving, thrilling, sometimes comic, always very human. ’ ‘A beautiful story which kept me hooked’ ‘I would definitely recommend this read, but be warned, you won't want to put it down. ’ ‘Loved the whole story, couldn't put it down’ ‘Will definitely read more from this author’

About the Author (#u23aa09f1-e995-514e-8038-2df3133e707f)

KERRY BARRETT is the author of eight novels, including the Strictly Come Dancing themed A Step in Time, and The Girl in the Picture, about a crime novelist who solves a 160-year-old mystery.

Born in Edinburgh, Kerry moved to London as a child, where she now lives with her husband and two sons. A massive bookworm growing up, she used to save up her pocket money for weeks to buy the latest Sweet Valley High book, then read the whole story on the bus home and have to wait two months for the next one. Eventually she realised it would be easier to write her own stories …

Kerry’s years as a television journalist, reporting on EastEnders and Corrie, have inspired her novels where popular culture collides with a historical mystery. But there is no truth in the rumours that she only wrote a novel based on Strictly Come Dancing so she would be invited on to It Takes Two.

When she’s not practising her foxtrot (because you never know …), Kerry is watching Netflix, reading Jilly Cooper, and researching her latest historical story.

Readers Love Kerry Barrett (#u23aa09f1-e995-514e-8038-2df3133e707f)

‘All Kerry Barrett's books are brilliant.’

‘I love Kerry Barrett’s books and this one is no disappointment’

‘Highly recommended’

‘I just loved the way Kerry took us effortlessly from one era to another’

‘Immediately bought another Kerry Barrett book – great writer!’

‘Brilliantly written gripping loved it’

Also by Kerry Barrett (#u23aa09f1-e995-514e-8038-2df3133e707f)

The Could It Be Magic? Series

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

I Put a Spell on You

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

I’ll Be There for You

A Spoonful of Sugar: A Novella

A Step in Time

The Forgotten Girl

The Girl in the Picture

The Hidden Women

The Secret Letter

KERRY BARRETT

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2020

Copyright © Kerry Barrett 2020

Kerry Barrett 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 novel 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.

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, downloaded, 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.

E-book Edition © February 2020 ISBN: 9780008321604

Version: 2019-11-14

Table of Contents

Cover (#u469ad37c-28d1-51fb-8997-ab8d7c2acf43)

About the Author

Readers Love Kerry Barrett

Also by Kerry Barrett

Title Page (#u1132daea-ffba-5193-b181-dc3ea2c591a2)

Copyright (#u12fb477b-c8d2-544d-9428-308bd1eb2675)

Dedication (#u0091b2d1-c160-547e-8bd9-1b677cdcde0b)

Prologue

Chapter 1: Lizzie

Chapter 2: Lizzie