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  It was disgusting.

  So anyway, I yelled at her over the noise. As you can see, I’m totally fine.

  What?

  I’m totally fine! Broke. But fine! I impaled a used maxi-pad, shook it off into my bag. Wondered who would flush that down the toilet.

  I put money in your account already, Jules yelled.

  You did? Seriously, who the hell? I had to use a gloved hand to dislodge a diaper from my spear.

  Well, I’m going to be away! Jules shrugged, resigned to this.

  I nodded. I wondered if the rehab would take. I nudged her hose to a pile of sludge too wet to pick up by spear.

  Anyway, I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing.

  I didn’t. Jules shook her head, then said something I didn’t catch.

  What? I yelled.

  It’s not for nothing!

  She gestured around with her eyes, her elbows.

  I knew what she meant. Behind my paper mask, I smiled.

  Acknowledgements

  I would never have arrived at this point without Zoe Whittall, who not only gave me invaluable feedback on an early draft, but also connected me to Samantha Haywood at Transatlantic. I am incredibly grateful to both of them for believing in me, and in this book. My editors Janice Zawerbny and Iris Tupholme and the entire team at HarperCollins Canada, with their brilliance and generosity, pushed me to make it better, and I learned a thousand times over the truth of the adage that the editor is always right.

  Research was a key component of writing this book, much of it done in informal conversations, with too many people to list here. My sister Janet and my mother, Mary, both shared memories that resonated with me and inspired parts of the story. Judy Taylor provided moving insight into the anxiety of living in an earthquake zone. Colin Kay of the Toronto Police (since retired) endured many nitpicking email inquiries from me in the early stages of writing. His explanations about arrests and Show Cause hearings were taped on my wall for months. In the end I’m sure I took a fiction-writer’s bulldozer to the reality of everything people told me. Needless to say, any errors or omissions are completely my own.

  Deep gratitude to my early readers Sarah M. and Jenn B.; and to David Bergen, my mentor as I wrote that first terrible draft; to my café comrades, both in Toronto and Fredericton, who are too many to list here: writing can be very isolating, and you all made it less so. Thanks for engaging in parallel play with me. And Jack, for letting me take over his studio for three weeks every summer—you are badly missed.

  I wouldn’t be anywhere without my chosen family. Angela, Cathy, Róisín, Vanessa and Yasmine, all the best friends a human could ask for. And Sabine: thanks for always holding my hand in the dark.

  About the Author

  ALISON TAYLOR was fired from jobs as a babysitter, a chambermaid, a barista and a farmhand before spending twenty years as a television editor in Toronto, Ontario. They have previously published in Exile Literary Quarterly and Broken Pencil magazine, performed deadpan stand-up on various comedy stages and made several internationally screened experimental short films. They now live in Fredericton, New Brunswick, with their partner and two bossy felines. Aftershock is their first novel.

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  Copyright

  Aftershock

  Copyright © 2020 by Alison Taylor.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

  COVER IMAGE: DOT PATTERN (SHUTTERSTOCK)

  COVER DESIGN: ZEENA BAYBAYAN

  FIRST EDITION

  Epub Edition AUGUST 2020 Epub ISBN 978-1-4434-5822-1

  Version 07012020

  Print ISBN: 978-1-4434-5821-4

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

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  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Title: Aftershock : a novel / Alison Taylor.

  Names: Taylor, Alison, 1971- author.

  Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20200222139 | Canadiana (ebook) 20200222759 ISBN 9781443458214 (softcover) | ISBN 9781443458221 (ebook)

  Classification: LCC PS8639.A91 A7 2020 | DDC C813/.6—dc23.

  LSC/H 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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