Jellybird

the long version

'Everyone has secrets, even those closest to you. But it's facing your own that takes the greatest courage.' This is what Jessica's father told her on the night he left the family home and never returned. Broken and damaged by her father's betrayal and her mother's silent fury over the years that followed, Jessica took refuge with Thomas, the Ghost Boy, a local teenager with problems of his own. Years later, Jessica has everything she needs - a loving husband, a growing reputation as a jewellery designer. She's determined not to repeat the mistakes her mother made: the vicious jealousy, the constant checking on her husband. But when a stranger, Libby Hargreaves, befriends her, the balance in Jessica's world shifts. At first, Jessica is flattered by their new, intense friendship. And then she catches her husband and Libby alone, heads together in whispered collusion. As the life she has worked so hard for begins to unravel, Jessica flees to her mother's house where a childhood memory box stirs up feelings she thought she'd left behind. She is forced to confront her past with Thomas and the events that led to his disappearance one stormy night.