The Most Difficult Thing. Charlotte Philby
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The Borough Press
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2019
Copyright © Charlotte Philby 2019
Cover design by Andrew Davis © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019
Cover photographs © Elena Alferova / Trevillion Images
Charlotte Philby asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
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.
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Source ISBN: 9780008326982
Ebook Edition © June 2019 ISBN: 9780008327002
Version: 2019-06-03
For Rosa
‘To know yourself is the most difficult thing’
Thales of Miletus
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Prologue
Part One
Chapter 1: Anna
Chapter 2: Anna
Chapter 3: Anna
Chapter 4: Anna
Chapter 5: Anna
Chapter 6: Anna
Chapter 7: Anna
Chapter 8: Anna
Chapter 9: Anna
Chapter 10: Anna
Chapter 11: Anna
Chapter 12: Anna
Chapter 13: Anna
Chapter 14: Anna
Chapter 15: Anna
Chapter 16: Maria
Chapter 17: Maria
Chapter 18: Maria
Chapter 19: Maria
Chapter 20: Maria
Chapter 21: Maria
Chapter 22: Maria
Chapter 23: Anna
Chapter 24: Anna
Part Two
Chapter 25: Anna
Chapter 26: Maria
Chapter 27: Anna
Chapter 28: Anna
Chapter 29: Anna
Chapter 30: Maria
Chapter 31: Anna
Chapter 32: Anna
Chapter 33: Maria
Chapter 34: Anna
Chapter 35: Maria
Chapter 36: Anna
Chapter 37: Anna
Chapter 38: Maria
Chapter 39: Anna
Chapter 40: Maria
Chapter 41: Anna
Chapter 42: Anna
Chapter 43: Maria
Chapter 44: Anna
Chapter 45: Maria
Chapter 46: Anna
Chapter 47: Maria
Chapter 48: Anna
Chapter 49: Maria
Chapter 50: Anna
Chapter 51: Maria
Part Three
Chapter 52: Anna
Chapter 53: Anna
Chapter 54: Maria
Chapter 55: Anna
Chapter 56: Anna
Chapter 57: Maria
Chapter 58: Anna
Chapter 59: Anna
Chapter 60: Maria
Chapter 61: Anna
Chapter 62: Anna
Chapter 63: Maria
Chapter 64: Anna
Chapter 65: Maria
Chapter 66: Anna
Chapter 67: Maria
Chapter 68: Anna
Chapter 69: Maria
Chapter 70: Maria
Chapter 71: Anna
Chapter 72: Maria