When the time came for me to take the third and final test, I was ready for it. Miss Monday asked those of us who remained to write out the Ten Commandments in the correct order without referring to the Book of Exodus.
The choir mistress turned a blind eye to the fact that I placed theft ahead of murder, couldn’t spell ‘adultery’, and certainly didn’t know what it meant. Only after two other miscreants were summarily dismissed for lesser offences did I realize just how exceptional my voice must be.
On the first Sunday of Advent, Miss Monday announced that she had selected three new trebles - or ‘little angels’, as the Reverend Watts was wont to describe us - to join her choir, the remainder having been rejected for committing such unforgivable sins as chattering during the sermon, sucking a gobstopper and, in the case of two boys, being caught playing conkers during the Nunc Dimittis.
The following Sunday, I dressed up in a long blue cassock with a ruffled white collar. I alone was allowed to wear a bronze medallion of the Virgin Mother around my neck, to show that I had been selected as the treble soloist. I would have proudly worn the medallion all the way back home, even to school the next morning, to show off to the rest of the lads, if only Miss Monday hadn’t retrieved it at the end of each service.
On Sundays I was transported into another world, but I feared this state of delirium could not last for ever.
Find out what happens to Harry in
Only Time Will Tell
Available from 12 May 2011
The Clifton Chronicles is Jeffrey Archer’s most ambitious work in four decades as an international bestselling author.
The epic tale of Harry Clifton’s life begins in 1919, in the backstreets of Bristol. His father was a war hero, but it will be twenty-one tumultuous years before Harry discovers the truth about how his father really died and if, in fact, he even was his father.
Only Time Will Tell takes a cast of memorable characters from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take his place at Oxford, or join the fight against Hitler’s Germany.
In Jeffrey Archer’s masterful hands, you will be taken on a journey that you won’t want to end, even after you turn the last page of this unforgettable yarn, because you’ll be faced with a dilemma that neither you, nor Harry Clifton could ever have anticipated.
Keep up-to-date with the latest news from Jeffrey Archer by following him on Facebook [http://www.facebook.com/jeffreyarcherauthor] and on Twitter @jeffrey_archer [http://twitter.com/jeffrey_archer] now.
KANE AND ABEL
JEFFREY ARCHER, whose novels and short stories include Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, First Among Equals and A Twist in the Tale, has topped the bestseller list around the world, with sales of over 210 million copies.
Paths of Glory, his most recent novel, was a global number one bestseller and remained on the Sunday Times bestseller list for ten weeks.
The author is married with two children, and lives in London and Cambridge.
www.jeffreyarcher.com
ALSO BY JEFFREY ARCHER
NOVELS
Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
Shall We Tell the President? The Prodigal Daughter
First Among Equals A Matter of Honour
As the Crow Flies Honour Among Thieves
The Fourth Estate The Eleventh Commandment
Sons of Fortune False Impression
The Gospel According to Judas (with the assistance of Professor Francis J. Moloney)
A Prisoner of Birth Paths of Glory
SHORT STORIES
A Quiver Full of Arrows A Twist in the Tale
Twelve Red Herrings The Collected Short Stories
To Cut a Long Story Short Cat O’ Nine Tails
PLAYS
Beyond Reasonable Doubt Exclusive The Accused
PRISON DIARIES
Volume One - Belmarsh: Hell
Volume Two - Wayland: Purgatory
Volume Three - North Sea Camp: Heaven
SCREENPLAYS
Mallory: Walking Off the Map False Impression
First published 1979 by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
This revised edition published 2009 by Pan Books
This electronic edition published 2011 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-0-330-46194-8 PDF
ISBN 978-0-330-46193-1 EPUB
Copyright (c) Jeffrey Archer 1979, 2009
The right of Jeffrey Archer to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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