Idiopathy

win out over nature, despite the fact that there was, patently, a hell of a lot of nature for nurture to overcome.
    ‘Well, anyway,’ she said, standing up.
    Daniel stood up. She looked at him. He sat back down.
    ‘Take care of yourself,’ he said as she reached the door.
    ‘Don’t I always?’ she said, stepping out into the street.

Acknowledgements

    F irstly, and most importantly, love and thanks to my family – Sue, Richard, Mollie, Graham and everyone else – for offering every possible type of support in every possible type of emotional, professional and financial circumstance.
    Tom Rowson provided inspiration, blunt criticism, unwavering positivity, healthy cynicism, a roof over my head, and the very best of friendships.
    Kevin Cuffe brought highbrow chat to lowbrow bars; Dawn Marrow set me on the right road; Giles Foden found a shape amidst the mess; Anjali Joseph believed before anyone else; Philip Langeskov offered spiritual first aid; Mark Richards, Peter Straus and Mitzi Angel took a gamble and guided me through; Phil Craggs and Blank Pages indulged my InDesign obsession; Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi braved the early pages and sent the email to beat all emails; everyone at
Granta
gave me the happiest and least terrifying first publishing experience possible; Jonathan Gibbs made me say hello; my work colleagues put up with my ways; Jeanette West helped me find the time; Owen Carroll and John Everson entertained, embraced, and lent me a bag for life; and Lola Byers mainly just kept an eye.

Copyright

    This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

    First published in Great Britain by
    Fourth Estate
    An imprint of HarperCollins
Publishers
    77–85 Fulham Palace Road
    London W6 8JB
    www.4thestate.co.uk

    Copyright © Sam Byers 2013

    The right of Sam Byers to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

    Parts of this book originally appeared, in a slightly different form, as ‘Some Other Katherine’ in issue 119 of
Granta

    A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

    Source ISBN: 9780007412082

    Ebook Edition © 2013 ISBN: 9780007412099

    Version 1

    All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

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