Queen Bee


 
 
 Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Queen Bee Read on for an extract from Rules of the Road About the Author Also by Ciara Geraghty About the Publisher Guide Cover Contents Title page vii viii ix 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 v 
 QUEEN BEE
 
 Ciara Geraghty
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Copyright
 HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
 1 London Bridge Street,
 London SE1 9GF
 www.harpercollins.co.uk
 First published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2023
 Copyright © Ciara Geraghty 2023
 Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2023
 Cover images: Shutterstock.com
 Ciara Geraghty 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.
 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 e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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.
 Source ISBN: 9780008496470
 Ebook Edition © November 2021 ISBN: 9780008496487
 Version: 2022-12-21
 
 
 Dedication
 This story is for you, menopausal woman. 
 You are not alone; there’s an army of us.
 
 Contents
 Cover
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Dedication 
 Queen Bee
 Read on for an extract from Rules of the Road
 About the Author
 Also by Ciara Geraghty
 About the Publisher
 
 
 
 
 22 May, 4 a.m.
 Symptoms: Insomnia, rage, resentment, night sweats, resentment
 How’s that for starters? 
 What else?
 Oh yes, resentment. Did I mention that?
 23 May, 4 a.m.
 Symptoms: Insomnia, boiling (heat and rage)
 Brain fog: Does my phone number start with 086 or 087?Also: Resentment
 Everyone else in this house is fast asleep. My sons (like, hadn’t you two moved out?). My father, ensconced in the spare room, in the throes of his a-bit-late-in-the-fucking-day midlife crisis. And beside me in the bed, Luke has the gall to smile in his sleep. Like he’s dreaming about the hairy bacon and cabbage he’s cooking in the café tomorrow.
 He’s also snoring.
 He has no idea how close he is to being smothered with a memory-foam pillow.
 24 May, 4 a.m.
 Symptoms: Insomnia, rage, resentment, hot flush, resentment
 Also: Repetitive. Like, I’m supposed to be a writer and I can’t even come up with new words for my symptoms 
 Also: Frustration. How is this supposed to help? This stupid symptoms diary? Riddle me that, Dr bloody Lennon
 And no, I will NOT call you Susie. You’re my GP, not my friend.
 Besides, I already find it difficult to take you seriously with your child hands and persistent air of hope.
 Fuck you ‘Susie’.
 25 May, 4 a.m.
 Symptoms: Weary, sweaty
 Also: Resentful. This is a complete waste of time, I could be watching First Dates. Or Gogglebox. Or Queer Eye
 I could even be writing. Proper writing, I mean. After all, I am contractually obliged to deliver the first draft of my sixteenth novel to my editor in ten weeks’ time. Which of course I