I stop.
The baby is crying in my mind. The lost baby. I gaze in the pram and wonder if this is her. The lost baby. My baby. I reach for the handle. Let my fingers rest lightly on the plastic bar.
‘Mummy!’ Jacob’s tugging at my other hand. Across the park the mother still isn’t paying attention, but even so, I can’t take her daughter. I know what it’s like to lose a child. It shifts your reality. You never really get over it.
I allow myself to be pulled away. Jacob chatters as we walk to the wrought iron gates but it’s hard to decipher his words over the constant wailing in my head.
We’re almost out of the park now. Soon it will be too late to save her.
The lost baby.
I hesitate. Turn. The pram still stands alone.
I’m not a monster.
I’m not.
I just want to silence the crying.
Is that so wrong?
Want to read more from Louise Jensen? Read The Sister, a psychological thriller with a brilliant twist you won't see coming.
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The Sister
"I did something terrible Grace. I hope you can forgive me ..."
Available Now…
Grace hasn't been the same since the death of her best friend Charlie. She is haunted by Charlie's last words, and in a bid for answers, opens an old memory box of Charlie's. It soon becomes clear there was a lot she didn't know about her best friend.
When Grace starts a campaign to find Charlie's father, Anna, a girl claiming to be Charlie's sister steps forward. For Grace, finding Anna is like finding a new family, and soon Anna has made herself very comfortable in Grace and boyfriend Dan's home.
But something isn't right. Things disappear, Dan's acting strangely and Grace is sure that someone is following her. Is it all in Grace's mind? Or as she gets closer to discovering the truth about both Charlie and Anna, is Grace in terrible danger?
There was nothing she could have done to save Charlie… or was there?
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A compelling, gripping psychological thriller perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, I Let You Go, and The Girl With No Past.
Hear More From Louise
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Also by Louise Jensen
The Sister
The Gift
The Surrogate
The Gift
The gripping psychological thriller everyone is talking about
The perfect daughter. The perfect girlfriend. The perfect murder?
Jenna is seriously ill. She’s lost all hope of getting the heart transplant she needs to live. But just as her life is ebbing away, she receives a donor heart from a girl called Callie. Who was Callie and how did she die? Jenna is determined to find out.
The closer Jenna gets to those who loved Callie, the more questions arise about her untimely death. Someone knows what happened to Callie. Why won’t they talk?
Jenna is about to uncover the truth, but it could cost her everything; her loved ones, her sanity, even her life.
A compelling, gripping psychological thriller with a killer twist from the author of the Number One bestseller The Sister.
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A Letter From Louise
Hello, I want to say a huge thank you for choosing to read The Surrogate. If you enjoyed it, and want to keep up-to-date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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I’m a little stunned to have finished writing my third book and firstly want to thank everyone who has supported me on my journey so far, both online and offline. With The Sister and The Gift reaching No. 1, both in the UK and abroad, there was a moment of panic, wondering what I could come up with for another book, until I took a deep breath and remembered the best advice I had ever been given: ‘Write the story you’d love to read.’
And that’s what I’ve done.
The idea for The Surrogate was born after I read a magazine article on surrogacy. All worked out well for the couple involved, they ended up with a beautiful baby, but my writer mind immediately started whirring, pondering all the things that could have gone wrong. There is a huge amount of trust placed in a surrogate and I wondered what would happen if that trust was misplaced, and worse still, what if the surrogate was a friend harbouring a grudge? I do hope you have enjoyed reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
Thanks so much for generously spending your time with Kat and Lisa. I hope you loved their story, and if you did I would be very grateful if you could write a review for The Surrogate. I’d love to hear what you think, and it makes such a difference helping new readers to discover one of my books for the first time.
Hearing from readers really brightens my day. You can find me over at Twitter or Facebook or contact me via my website, where I regularly blog flash fiction.
Speak soon.
Louise x
www.louisejensen.co.uk
Book Club Questions
1) During the first page of the book we learn that a couple have been murdered. As the book progresses did you find yourself forming theories about the murders and if so, did these theories change as the story evolved?
2) Kat has been lonely since falling out with Lisa many years before and is eager to rebuild their friendship. Do you think it is ever possible to go back and repair past hurt?
3) ‘You mustn’t tell, Kat.’ When you find out what Kat is supposed to keep quiet about, how did you feel? ‘I’m a keeper of secrets, a guardian of the truth.’ Did this change the way you felt about her?
4) Do you think Kat’s desperation for a baby has been at the cost of her happiness?
5) Both Nick and Kat are harbouring secrets. Kat says of Nick ‘Over time I have stopped asking questions because it’s never one-sided, is it? Finding out information. If we have that conversation, sooner or later I’ll be the one expected to talk about my parents, my past, and that’s the last thing I want to do. Anyway, ultimately, we are all the same, aren’t we?’ Do you think this is true?
6) Kat and Nick are both damaged, troubled, characters. How did you feel about them?
7) Throughout the novel did your sense of who could be trusted change?
8) What did you think would be the outcome of Lisa’s pregnancy?
9) ‘It’s almost incomprehensible how the actions of a complete stranger have shaped my life. The butterfly effect. A flutter is all it takes.’ Discuss how different things could have been.
10) What do you think happens after the Epilogue? What would you like to happen?