My Pear-Shaped Life by Carmel Harrington – Extract

Published: April 16th 2020
Publisher: HarperCollinsUK
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Genre: Humourous Fiction

Today I’m delighted to share an extract from this heartwarming and uplifting novel as part of the blog tour.. Thank you to Anne from Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part.

MY PEAR-SHAPED LIFE:

Chapter 1

Greta walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes. She smiled her thanks to her mam, Emily, who placed a mug of dark brown tea in front of her. The Gales all drank their tea the same way – brewed or, as some might say, stewed.

‘Sleep OK?’ Emily asked. ‘Like a baby,’ Greta replied. ‘You didn’t take any more of those sleeping pills, did you?’ Emily’s forehead wrinkled in a frown. ‘Give over, Mam. I only take the odd one when my insomnia gets out of hand. I keep telling you that,’ Greta said. Her mother worried way too much. Greta had taken one the previous evening, as it happened, but there was no point worrying her mam admitting that. When it came to her parents, some things were better on a ‘need to know’ basis. Greta opened her phone and flicked through Instagram.

‘Oh Mam look—’ Greta began, but was silenced with a shush and a wave at the TV screen. Mark Cagney, the main anchor of her mam’s favourite breakfast TV show Ireland:AM was speaking. Emily always denied that she had a crush on him, but when he spoke her face softened, and she hung on his every word.

Only when Mark had finished talking did Emily answer, ‘What’s that love?’

Greta pointed to a photograph of Dr Greta Gale, her famous namesake.

In the photo, Dr Gale was sitting on a red-brick wall, with the backdrop of a green ocean behind her, smiling to the camera. ‘Doesn’t she look beautiful?’

‘How does she get her hair to look like that?’ Emily asked, smoothing down her own shoulder-length bob. ‘Maybe I should grow mine out a bit.’

‘She probably has a glam squad at her disposal twenty- four/seven,’ Greta replied. ‘What do you think she means by being the same personally as well as privately and publicly?’

Drgretagale Be the same person privately, publicly and – most importantly – personally. Can I get a hell yeah? #inspirationalquotes #drgretagale #inspire #mindfulness #strong #whatsinyourcupboard

Emily put her glasses on to read the post beneath the photograph. ‘I don’t know. Half the stuff she posts is a load of mumbo jumbo if you ask me.’

‘Mam!’ Greta loved Dr Gale and wouldn’t have a word said against her. And that wasn’t just because they shared the same name – although that was part of it. It was more because Dr Gale epitomized everything that Greta wished she could be herself. Dr Gale was successful, beautiful and loved. She was living her best life. She represented hope for Greta. Maybe one day she too could have everything that Dr Gale had. There wasn’t a single post that Greta had not read. And with each new double tap of love, she felt her connection to her grow stronger.

Greta would lie in bed, late at night, knowing she should be at least making an attempt to sleep, but somehow unable to take her eyes off Dr Gale’s Instafeed. She would lose hours googling books, food, art and restaurants that Dr Gale tagged in a photo. She followed accounts that Dr Gale followed. Last year she bought a green kaftan similar to the one that Dr Gale wore to a beach party, but that had not ended well. On Dr Gale the kaftan looked very boho chic. On Greta it looked as if she’d eaten all the pies.

More than how Dr Gale looked, lately her Instagram posts felt as if they were speaking directly to Greta. Every word seemed like a secret message just for her, as if Dr Gale had looked into Greta’s mind and knew exactly what to say to help her, support her, advise her.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Carmel Harrington is an internationally published novelist from Co. Wexford, where she lives with her family. She has been shortlisted twice (2016 & 2017) for an Irish Book Award and won both the Romantic eBook of The Year and Kindle Book of The Year in 2013. Her books, all regular chart-toppers, have captured the hearts of readers worldwide and are translated into eight languages to date, sold into eleven territories. My Pear-Shaped Life (Harper Collins) will be published in April 2020. Other books include the number one Amazon and Irish Times bestseller A Thousand Roads Home (Harper Collins), the official ITV novel Cold Feet The Lost Years (Hodder & Stoughton) and The Woman at 72 Derry Lane (Harper Collins). She is a co-founder of The Inspiration Project, a coaching writing retreat and was Chair of Wexford Literary Festival from 2015 – 2018. Carmel is represented by Rowan Lawton of the Soho Agency.