Rebecca is Always Right by Anna Carey Read Free Book Online Page B

with Patricia Alexandra Harrington in it!’
    Months ago, in a moment of madness, I told Mrs Harrington (whose full name is Patricia Alexandra Harrington)that my mother was going to name a character after her. Of course, then I had to make sure my mother actually did it, which was much easier said than done. But she did it, in the end, so it all worked out, but it was very stressful at the time. Still, all’s well that ends well. And Mrs Harrington looked delighted when I mentioned it.
    ‘Oh, I can’t wait to read it!’ she said. ‘Me, in a Rosie Carberry book!’
    ‘Well, just your name,’ I reminded her. ‘I mean, Patricia Alexandra is the villain.’
    ‘That makes it even more fun,’ said Mrs Harrington happily. ‘I can’t believe my name has inspired your mammy.’ Then she looked at me pointedly. ‘And actually, she’s inspired me!’
    ‘How?’ I said nervously. Was Mrs Harrington going to start dressing like my mother in a scary stalker way or something? I wouldn’t totally put it past her, given her behaviour in the past.
    ‘I’m writing a book!’ said Mrs Harrington.
    What is it about my English teachers and writing books? The reason we got Mrs Harrington as an English teacher in the first place was because our original teacher went off to write one! Though she actually had a book deal, which is how she could afford to leave her job. It turns out Mrs Harrington is writing one just for fun and it’s all down to, well, you can guess.
    ‘Your mammy made me realise the power of stories,’ she said, which is a bit worrying considering she’s an English teacher. I would have hoped she’d been aware of the power of stories before she started reading my mother’s books. ‘And now I want to follow her brilliant example.’
    So I presume Mrs Harrington’s book is all about a cosy little village with a bakery and a smiling granny and some Irish-dancing kids in it. That more or less sums up most of my mother’s books. Then Mrs Harrington told me that she’s been working on it for three hours every night, which is pretty impressive. I have never spent so much time on my homework, even though it’s Junior Cert year.
    Anyway, I told my mother about it this evening and, to my surprise, she was absolutely delighted.
    ‘Oh, that’s wonderful!’ she said. ‘Tell her I wish her the best of luck.’
    I will pass this message on to Mrs Harrington. Maybe she really will become a best-selling author. In fact, maybe she’ll become more popular than my mother. Bet Mum wouldn’t be so pleased then.

    Before I went to bed, I asked Mum how she would feel if Mrs Harrington became more successful than her by copying her and she just laughed. She has never taken my interest in her career seriously. I don’t know why I bother, especially as she reminded me today that the sequel to her teen book about Ruthie O’Reilly will be out in a few months.
    ‘I know the last one took you by surprise,’ she said. ‘So I thought I’d give you lots of warning.’
    The new book is called
Ruthie’s Rules for Life
(what a ridiculous title), and Mum swears that she will make it very clear this time that Ruthie has nothing in common with me or Rachel. And she has promised that she has not ‘borrowed’ any more real-life incidents from our lives. I was hoping she might just not do any interviews at all, but she says that she can’t afford to turn down any publicity requests. Anyway, it can’t possibly be as bad as the last time. At least I know she’s not going to let any newspapers print pictures of me as a kid dancing about in ludicrous pink shorts. I still feel a bit sick when I remember that.

    Oh my God. Something awful has happened. Not to me, and no one has died or been hit by a car or anything, but it’s quite awful and I’m kind of surprised at how upset I am. And I still can’t totally believe it’s true.
    Tom broke up with Rachel.
    I know! Saint Tom the Perfect Boyfriend! It’s shocking. I genuinely thought