Making Up Amanda

Praise for Rozzi Bazzani’s The Piano WomanWhat a fabulous read this was. It’s dual timeline entangling the past and present with a nice twist. Happy Valley - Books Read A real page turner in terms of story and plot. The gradual unravelling of ancestral secrets across four generations is skilfully executed. Chandani Lokuge author of ‘My Van Gogh.’ It was easy to get lost in this well written multiple timeline novel. Dabble in the present day and take a step back in time with memorable characters, it’s a guaranteed great read. Mrs B Book Reviews Read the book in one day. I could not wait to see how the mystery unfolded. Goodreads A wonderful story of a writer who is struck by a deep but fractured memory of her grandmother after hearing a stranger play a piano in a mall. I loved it. Amazon Books Well written endearing characters and an unpredictable plot. Mel’s Bookworm ReviewsThe end wrapped up beautifully. I even shed a few tears when the whole mystery was revealed. Goodreads. As a fan of dual timeline novels this one hit the right notes. There is mystery and some romance and a well written compelling tale of families, traditions, and personal growth. Highly recommended. Author, Phillipa Nefri Clarke. The structure of the book was very well executed maintaining the suspense throughout. I was hooked until the end. Goodreads. I’m waiting for the sequel. Goodreads Rozzi Bazzani is an award winning author who has written scripts, libretti and songs for theatre including two stage musicals together with a wide range of articles about music, theatre and performance for publication. She has been a regular contributor to the Arts pages of the highest circulation newspaper in Australia. Before she came to writing full time Rozzi worked as a singer in the recording studio and on stages across Australia, Italy and Germany and used her voice for both spoken and sung commercial work, backing some of Australia’s best known singers and supplying appropriate voices for anything from soap to sunglasses, and from face cream to dog food.Returning to study, she graduated from Melbourne University majoring in Romance Languages, Linguistics and Fine Art. It was then that Rozzi’s love of reading (one of her early roles was as a librarian) and love of history inspired her first book, a fully researched biography of Australian TV mogul Hector Crawford ‘Hector’, which won the Victorian Royal Historical Society Publication Prize and was short-listed for the Ashurst Business Literature Prize.Her first work of fiction was ‘The Piano Woman’ which was published in 2021 reflecting her lifetime love of music and performance in a mystery romance.Rozzi still loves to sing whenever she can. She lives in a small town near the base of Mt Macedon outside Melbourne and, with her husband and two big poodles for company, is often seen walking on local tracks while considering the next plot twist for her newest book. ALSO BY ROZZI BAZZANIHector The Piano Woman ROZZI BAZZANI MAKING UP AMANDA Making Up Amanda is a fictional story. Although it is set in Ballarat, Victoria, the town, places and people in the story are entirely from the author’s imagination and do not represent any actual place or person either living or dead. First Published 2023Copyright © Rozzi Bazzani 2023 This book is copyright and the author asserts and reserves all of her rights. S & B BooksLevel 1, 409 Keilor RoadNiddrie, Victoria 3042 ISBN Paperback: 978-0-6456930-0-3 E Book: 978-0-6456930-1-0 To Gregory CONTENTS Prologue1988120192The Thursday before3Sunday4The Friday before5Same Friday6Same Friday7Same Friday8First Day of Filming, Monday Week 19Tuesday10The Next Sunday11Same Sunday12Same Sunday13Same Sunday14Sunday evening15Thursday16Friday Morning 8.00 Am17Same Day18Same Day19Saturday20Sunday21Sunday22Sunday23Monday24Monday25Same Day26Late Monday Afternoon27Same day, early evening28Tuesday Morning29Later Tuesday30Two and a half hours later31Wednesday32Thursday33Friday34Later the same day35Saturday36Sunday37Monday38Same day39Same day40Tuesday41Same day42Same day43Same Day44Same Day45Same Day46Later that night47Earlier that evening48Later again49Six Months LaterAuthors NoteAcknowledgements Prologue1988The lock made a loud clicking sound as it turned over. Teddy froze. Breathing out in short bursts, he waited. When nothing happened, he turned the handle slowly, pushed the door open and went through. Illuminated only by reflected light from the street below, he shuffled silently across the thick carpet to his starting point, the right side of the window. He wasn’t meant to be here. Rooms locked for the night should stay locked, he’d been told many times before. Running his fingers along the shelves, he reached out and checked that every book was in its correct position, making sure none was jutting out of place. He kept on like this, touching and checking until he had circumnavigated the entire room, and finished up where the books ended, to the left of the sash window. Satisfied everything was in order, Teddy went straight to the doors that opened onto the hotel balcony and stepped out to his secret place.The air was humid and very warm, but he didn’t mind. It was bright and noisy. Once, the sound of cars honking and loud voices yelling as late-night revellers tumbled out of the nightclub up the street would have frightened him, but Teddy had learned that up here, he was safe. No-one could see him, but he could see everything. On a Saturday night, he loved to sneak out here to watch the goings on down below, on the street. He breathed in deeply and carefully unfolded his canvas seat, the one he kept folded up and out of sight. He straightened it out, perched himself down and leaned forward to peer through the stone balustrades. Sometimes, he felt like a bird in the treetops. He loved that feeling. He also found that when there were plenty of people roaming about, he could sit for ages watching the lights.Voices singing in unison echoed high in the air as Teddy peered over. A group of merry makers, arms draped around one another’s shoulders staggering up the street, yelling at the top of their voices a song he remembered playing on the radio.Tonight, Teddy felt happy because it was busy. His eyes darted from left