The One Plus One - Hardcover

Jojo Moyes

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1405915579 ISBN 13: 9781405915571

Publisher: Penguin, 2014

Synopsis

The One Plus One is the beautiful, poignant and utterly compelling new novel by the internationally bestselling author Jojo Moyes. One single mum With two jobs and two children, Jess Thomas does her best day after day. But it's hard on your own. And sometimes you take risks you shouldn't. Because you have to . . . One chaotic family Jess's gifted, quirky daughter Tanzie is brilliant with numbers, but without a helping hand she'll never get the chance to shine. And Nicky, Jess's teenage stepson, can't fight the bullies alone. Sometimes Jess feels like they're sinking . . . One handsome stranger Into their lives comes Ed Nicholls, a man whose life is in chaos, and who is running from a deeply uncertain future. But he has time on his hands. He knows what it's like to be lonely. And he wants to help . . . One unexpected love story The One Plus One is a captivating and unconventional romance from Jojo Moyes about two lost souls meeting in the most unlikely circumstances. Praise for Jojo Moyes: 'Majestic, utterly compelling, tremendous. A heart-stopping read' Independent on Sunday 'Truly beautiful. Made us laugh, smile and sob like a baby - you simply have to read it' Closer 'A triumph. Packs such an emotional punch, you'll need a box of tissues' Elle Jojo Moyes is a novelist and a journalist. She worked at the Independent for ten years before leaving to write full time. Her previous novels have all been critically acclaimed and include The Ship of Brides, Foreign Fruit, The Last Letter From Your Lover, winner of Spring 2012's most popular Richard and Judy Book Club title Me Before You and most recently The Girl you Left Behind. She lives in Essex with her husband and their three children.

About this title

About the Author:

Jojo Moyes is a novelist and journalist. Her books include the bestsellers The Girl You Left Behind, The One Plus One, Me Before You and After You and her short story collection Paris for One and Other Stories. Her novels have been translated into forty-four languages, have hit the number one spot in twelve countries and have sold over thirty million copies worldwide. Me Before You has now sold over thirteen million copies worldwide and was adapted into a major film starring Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke. Jojo lives in Essex with her husband and their three children.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected proof***

Copyright © 2014 by Jojo Moyes

Prologue

Ed

Ed Nicholls was in the creatives’ room drinking coffee with Ronan when Sidney walked in. A man he vaguely recognized stood behind him, another of the Suits.

“We’ve been looking for you,” Sidney said. “Well, you found us,” Ed said.

“Not Ronan, you.”

Ed studied them for a minute, then threw a red foam ball at the ceiling and caught it. He glanced sideways at Ronan. Investacorp had bought half shares in the company a full eighteen months ago, but Ed and Ronan still thought of them as the Suits. It was one of the kinder things they called them in private.

“Do you know a woman called Deanna Lewis?” “Why?”

“Did you give her any information about the launch of the new software?”

“What?”

“It’s a simple question.”

Ed looked from one Suit to the other. The atmosphere was strangely charged. His stomach, a packed elevator, began a slow descent toward his feet. “We may have chatted about work. No specifics that I re- member.”

“Deanna Lewis?” said Ronan.

“You need to be clear about this, Ed. Did you give her any information about the launch of SFAX?”

“No. Maybe. What is this?”

“The police are downstairs searching your office, with two goons from the Financial Services Authority. Her brother has been arrested for insider trading. On the basis of information that you gave them about the launch of the software.”

“Deanna Lewis? Our Deanna Lewis?” Ronan began to wipe his spectacles, a thing he did when he was feeling anxious.

“Her brother’s hedge fund made two point six million dollars on the first day of trading. She alone cleared a hundred and ninety thou- sand on her personal account.”

“Her brother’s hedge fund?”

“I don’t understand,” Ronan said.

“I’ll spell it out. Deanna Lewis is on record talking to her brother about the launch of SFAX. She says Ed here said it was going to be enormous. And guess what? Two days later her brother’s fund is among the biggest purchasers of shares. What exactly did you tell her?”

Ronan stared at him. Ed struggled to gather his thoughts. When he swallowed, it was shamefully audible. Across the office the development team was peering over the tops of their cubicles. “I didn’t tell her anything.” He blinked. “I don’t know. I might have said some- thing. It’s not like it was a state secret.”

“It was a fucking state secret, Ed,” Sidney said. “It’s called insider trading. She told him you gave her dates, times. You told her the company was going to make a fortune.”

“Then she’s lying! Shooting her mouth off. We were just . . . having a thing.”

“You wanted to bone the girl, so you shot your mouth off to impress her?”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“You had sex with Deanna Lewis?” Ed could feel Ronan’s myopic gaze burning into him.

Sidney lifted his hands. “You need to call your lawyer.”

“How can I be in trouble?” Ed asked. “It’s not like I got any benefit from it. I didn’t even know her brother had a hedge fund.”

Sidney glanced behind him. The faces suddenly found something

 

interesting to look at on their desks. He lowered his voice. “You have to go now. They want to interview you at the police station.”

“What? This is nuts. I’ve got a software meeting in twenty minutes. I’m not going to any police station.”

“And obviously we’re suspending you until we’ve got to the bot- tom of this.”

Ed half laughed. “Are you kidding me? You can’t suspend me. It’s my company.” He threw the foam ball up in the air and caught it, turning away from them. Nobody moved. “I’m not going. This is our company. Tell them, Ronan.”

He looked at Ronan, but Ronan was staring fixedly at something on the floor. Ed looked at Sidney, who shook his head. Then he looked up at the two uniformed men who had appeared behind him, at his secretary, whose hand was covering her mouth, at the carpet path already opening up between him and the door, and the foam ball dropped silently onto the floor between his feet.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1405915579
• ISBN 13: 9781405915571
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 516