How to make a friend - Fleur Smithwick

As a lonely child, Alice found comfort the same way so many others do - she invented a friend. Sam was always there when she needed him, until one day...he wasn't.

Now, Alice's life almost resembles something happy, normal. She has a handful of close friends and a career as a photographer. But when a tragic accident shatters the world Alice has constructed, the sense of isolation that haunted her in childhood returns. And with it, so does Sam.

To Alice, he looks and feels like a real person, but how can that be so? And who will decide when it's time for him to leave again?

Brought up in London, Fleur studied French Literature & Language at Southampton University and has worked in various jobs, including twelve years as a school secretary, before becoming a full-time writer. As well as novels, she writes short stories and has won The Writers' Village and Segora competitions and has been shortlisted twice for Fish Publishing and The New Writer. She lives in Richmond with her husband and two children. Find her on Twitter: @FleurSmithwick

"An absolute must-read. Full of the highs and lows of a beautiful, convincing friendship"
OK!

"A great read"
Woman's Own

"An intriguing and extremely sinister debut."
Woman & Home

"'A cautionary tale, psychological thriller and romance all in one gripping novel'"
Louise Walters, author of Mrs Sinclair's Suitcase

"The mounting tension kept me eagerly turning pages"
Claire Fuller, author of Our Endless Numbered Days