Star Sullivan Read online

  ‘I hear he’s going off to Head Office shortly,’ her mother said.

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘So that’s not a problem. What else are you worrying about?’

  ‘My real name is Oona,’ Star said.

  ‘Of course it is, love.’

  ‘So that’s what I’m going to call myself from now on. Star hasn’t worked for me, I wasn’t bright enough or glittery enough, no light to shine on things. I’d like to be Oona now. In a year’s time people will forget I was ever called Star.’

  ‘All right, sweetheart,’ her mother said. It was just one more thing to cope with in the day.

  And in a year’s time when Oona Sullivan won the Employee of the Year Award in the supermarket chain, it was Kenny, the Area Manager, who presented it. He was astounded to find it was the girl he knew as Star. He had never guessed it was the same person.

  And when she was bridesmaid at Gemma and Kevin’s wedding, her picture was in the evening paper as Ms Oona Sullivan, sister of the groom.

  And she got a postcard from Laddy who now lived far away. It said: ‘Welcome to the real world, Oona Sullivan. May you be much happier and much nicer than all those silly little stars.’

  And because she was so grown up now, Oona smiled and was pleased, rather than thinking, as the old Star would have done, that the love of her life was on his way back to her.

  WORLD BOOK DAY

  Quick Reads

  We would like to thank all our partners on the Quick Reads project for all their help and support:

  BBC RaW

  Department for Education and Skills

  Trades Union Congress

  The Vital Link

  The Reading Agency

  National Literacy Trust

  Quick Reads would also like to thank the Arts Council England and National Book Tokens for their sponsorship.

  We would also like to thank the following companies for providing their services free of charge: SX Composing for typesetting all the titles; Icon Reproduction for text reproduction; Norske Skog, Stora Enso, PMS and Iggusend for paper/board supplies; Mackays of Chatham, Cox and Wyman, Bookmarque, White Quill Press, Concise, Norhaven and GGP for the printing.

  www.worldbookday.com

  Quick Reads

  BOOKS IN THE Quick Reads SERIES

  The Book Boy

  Joanna Trollope

  Blackwater

  Conn Iggulden

  Chickenfeed

  Minette Walters

  Don’t Make Me Laugh

  Patrick Augustus

  Hell Island

  Matthew Reilly

  How to Change Your Life in 7 Steps

  John Bird

  Screw It, Let’s Do It

  Richard Branson

  Someone Like Me

  Tom Holt

  Star Sullivan

  Maeve Binchy

  The Team

  Mick Dennis

  The Thief

  Ruth Rendell

  Woman Walks into a Bar

  Rowan Coleman

  AND IN MAY 2006

  Cleanskin

  Val McDermid

  Danny Wallace and the Centre of the Universe

  Danny Wallace

  Desert Claw

  Damien Lewis

  The Dying Wish

  Courttia Newland

  The Grey Man

  Andy McNab

  I Am a Dalek

  Garath Roberts

  I Love Football

  Hunter Davies

  The Name You Once Gave Me

  Mike Phillips

  The Poison in the Blood

  Tom Holland

  Winner Takes All

  John Francome

  Look out for more titles in the Quick Reads

  series in 2007.

  www.worldbookday.com

  Have you enjoyed reading this

  Quick Reads book?

  Would you like to read more?

  Or learn how to write fantastically?

  If so, you might like to attend a course to

  develop your skills.

  Courses are free and available in your local area.

  If you’d like to find out more,

  phone 0800 100 900.

  You can also ask for a free video or DVD showing

  other people who have been on our courses and

  the changes they have made in their lives.

  Don’t get by – get on.

  FIRST CHOICE BOOKS

  If you enjoyed this book, you’ll find more great reads on www.firstchoicebooks.org.uk. First Choice Books allows you to search by type of book, author and title. So, whether you’re looking for romance, sport, humour – or whatever turns you on – you’ll be able to find other books you’ll enjoy.

  You can also borrow books from your local library. If you tell them what you’ve enjoyed, they can recommend other good reads they think you will like.

  First Choice is part of the Vital Link, promoting reading for pleasure. To find out more about the Vital Link visit www.vitallink.org.uk

  RaW

  Find out what the BBC’s RaW (Reading and Writing) campaign has to offer at www.bbc.co.uk/raw

  NEW ISLAND

  New Island publishers have produced four series of books in its Open Door series – brilliant short novels for adults from the cream of Irish writers. Visit www.newisland.ie and go to the Open Door section.

  SANDSTONE PRESS

  In the Sandstone Vista Series, Sandstone Press Ltd publish quality contemporary fiction and non-fiction books. The full list can be found at their website www.sandstonepress.com.

  Quick Reads

  The Book Boy by Joanna Trollope

  Bloomsbury

  Sometimes it takes a stranger to guess a family secret.

  Alice has a house, a husband, two children and a part-time job. She ought to be happy but she isn’t because she has a secret which is never talked about in the family: she can’t read.

  But Alice decides to take charge of her life and change it with the help of the strangest companion – the book boy.

  Quick Reads

  The Thief by Ruth Rendell

  Arrow

  Stealing from people who had upset her was something Polly did quite a lot. There was her Aunt Pauline, a girl at school, a boyfriend who had left her. And there was the man on the plane . . .

  Humiliated and scared by a total stranger, Polly does what she always does: she steals something. But she never could have imagined that her desire for revenge would have such terrifying results.

  Quick Reads

  Blackwater by Conn Iggulden

  HarperCollins

  Blackwater is a cold, dark thriller with a twist.

  Davey has always lived in the shadow of his older brother, who will stop at nothing to protect himself and his family. But when Denis Tanter comes into Davey’s life, how far will they go to get him out of trouble?

  How far can you go before you’re in too deep?

  Quick Reads

  Woman Walks into a Bar by Rowan

  Coleman

  Arrow

  Twenty-eight-year-old single mother Sam spends her days working in the local supermarket and her Friday nights out with her friends. Life has never been easy for Sam, but she’s always hoped one day she’ll meet ‘The One’.

  She’s starting to lose hope when her friends set her up on a blind date. At first Sam’s horrified, but then she agrees – after all, you never know when you might meet the man of your dreams . . .

  Quick Reads

  Don’t Make Me Laugh by Patrick Augustus

  The X Press

  It’s not funny. Leo and Trevor are twins, but they hate each other’s guts. Leo says his brother got off with his woman. Trevor reckons it was the other way round. Only Mum can stop them ripping each other to bits. But HER big secret is that one of them has to die.

  Quick Reads

  Screw It, Let’s Do It by Richard Branson

  Virgin

 
Learn the secrets of a global icon.

  Throughout my life I have strived for success – as a businessman, in my adventures, as an author and a proud father and husband. I want to share the many truths I’ve learned along the road to success which have helped me to be the best I can. They include:

  Have faith in yourself

  Believe that anything can be done

  Don’t let other people put you off

  Never give up

  Learn these and other simple truths, and I hope you will be inspired to get the most out of your life and to achieve your goals. People will try to talk you out of ideas and say, ‘It can’t be done,’ but if you have faith in yourself you’ll find you can achieve almost anything.

  AN ORION EBOOK

  First published in Great Britain in 2006 by Orion.

  This eBook first published in 2009 by Orion Books.

  Copyright © Maeve Binchy 2006

  Copyright © Maeve Binchy 2007

  The rights of Maeve Binchy to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the copyright, designs and patents act 1988.

  All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

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

  ISBN: 9781409130383

  Orion Books

  The Orion Publishing Group Ltd

  Orion House

  5 Upper St Martin’s Lane

  London WC2H 9EA

  An Hachette UK Company

  www.orionbooks.co.uk