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“I was thinking of what Zander said in his speech. You know, that Janet Jackson song? I was looking to see if I could see a star for Bee.”

  The two of them craned their necks for a moment, scanning the navy sky for stars. And then they saw one. A big fat one. It was all alone. And it was twinkling at them. They both raised their beer cans to the solitary star.

  And then they put down their beer cans, unfurled themselves from the armchair, and hand in hand they walked barefoot across the grass and into Flint’s flat.

  Ana awoke at five that morning, needing to go to the loo. As she passed the kitchen, a shaft of moonlight highlighted her handbag, and she suddenly remembered the manila envelope. She padded across the warm linoleum and pulled the envelope from her bag. It had one word written on it, in her mother’s scratchy handwriting. “Sorry.”

  She pulled the letter from the envelope. It was mauve. It was the same paper that Bee had written her letter to Zander on. She looked at the date. It was a year ago, almost to the day. And then she started reading.

  Dearest Ana,

  I never expected to have a sister . . .

  Acknowledgments

  There were some hairy moments writing this book and I’d particularly like to thank Nic for the tears in Norfolk, Katy for not saying it was crap in Portugal, and Yasmin for being extremely brave on the phone from Sydney.

  A massive thank-you to everyone at Penguin for being uniformly brilliant, with special thanks and love to Louise, Harrie, and Jess. And of course, thanks as ever to the wonderful Jascha, my husband, best friend, keeper of my sanity, and maker of many, many cups of tea. It’s been a joy sharing my days with you and I’m going to miss you like hell when you decamp to your posh new offices in the West End. Please can I come and sit under your desk? I promise I’ll be quiet . . .

  But my greatest debt of gratitude is to two people in particular. To the splendid Sarah Bailey, who spent an entire day going through the manuscript with me when I was about to shred it and brought me back from the edge. Everyone knows that friends should be there for you‌—but helping you write a book isn’t usually in the job description. My gratitude is boundless.

  And equal thanks go to my agent, the marvelous Judith Murdoch, who spent a whole brainstorming day with me, inspiring and motivating me and reminding me of just exactly what the hell it was I was actually trying to do. What a completely great agent!

  About the Author

  Lisa Jewell is the bestselling author of Ralph’s Party and thirtynothing. She lives in London with her husband and their cat.

  Unoffical Chronology

  WARNING: Spoilers! Do not read this section until after you have finished reading the entire novel!

  Since one-hit wonder contains numerous flashbacks the following chronology might be helpful. For each event the year, month (where known), linked chapter reference(s), and description are given. (In Microsoft Reader you can use the Return (alt-R) menu option to return to this page after you visit a link.)

  Year

  Month

  Chapter

  Description

  1963

  2

  Gay marries Gregor Bearhorn

  1964

  12, 24

  Bee born

  1971

  2

  Gregor leaves Gay

  1974

  2

  Gay marries Bill Wills

  1975

  2, 2

  Ana born (Gay, age 36; Bill, age 58)

  1979

  2, 24

  Bee leaves home

  1981

  28

  Flint joins army for three years (age 20 when he leaves)

  1984

  25

  Flint in Japan

  Jul

  23, 34

  28th, Zander born

  1985

  Oct

  1, 24

  “Groovin’ for London” released

  1986

  Mar

  24

  “Space Girl” released

  Jul

  24

  “Honey Bee” released

  Dec

  35

  Bee dropped by record label

  35

  Bee visits father in Angoulême

  36

  Zander’s parents killed in accident

  1988

  Jul

  2, 3

  Ana last sees Bee

  ?

  2, 3, 24

  Gregor dies

  1994

  Dec

  42

  Bee starts sending Zander money orders each Christmas

  1997

  Jun

  22, 23

  Bee first meets Zander

  ?

  30

  High Cedars documentary shown on BBC1

  Oct

  14

  Bee first sees cottage

  7, 14

  Bee buys cottage

  ?

  21, 26

  Bee starts affair with Ed

  1998

  Jan

  16

  Zander visits Bee’s cottage for first time

  1999

  Sep

  2, 19

  Bill dies

  ?

  2, 12

  Ana moves back home

  Sep

  0, 19, 19

  12th, Bee writes letter to Ana

  ?

  9

  Lol meets Keith

  2000

  Jan

  26

  Bee goes on holiday to India with Ed

  Pro

  Bee moves into Baker St. flat

  July

  34

  25th Tue, Bee sees Ed and Tina with their new babies

  9, 34

  26th Wed, Bee asks Lol to take care of John

  9, 34

  28th Fri, Lol tells Bee John is missing

  34

  Zander’s Birthday

  15, 39

  Bee takes pills

  Aug

  3, 9

  1st Tue, Bee’s body is discovered

  1, 4

  17th Thu, Ana arrives to clean out Bee’s Baker St. flat

  8

  18th Fri, Ana meets Lol

  11

  19th Sat, Ana moves in with Gill

  15

  20th Sun, Trip to Broadstairs

  21

  21st Mon, Meeting with Ed

  32

  22nd Tue, Night out in London with Flint

  34

  23rd Wed, Trip to High Cedars

  41

  25th Fri, Trip to Devon to visit Gay

  Sep

  42

  2nd Sat, Bee’s memorial service

  About one-hit wonder

  When the hottest pop star of the flashy ’80s disappears from the scene, she’s dismissed as another one-hit wonder‌—until her body is found in her half-furnished London flat, leaving more unanswered questions than clues. . . .

  Her bestselling debut, Ralph’s Party, was called “astute and engagingly hip” by The Baltimore Sun; about her second novel, the London Times said “thirtynothing will keep you up all night in a sweaty, addicted reading frenzy.” Now Lisa Jewell is back on the scene with her funniest novel yet. One-Hit Wonder takes you into the thrill-a-minute life of a disco diva‌—and the dreary life of her mousy younger sister.

  Shy and gawky, Ana Wills has always daydreamed about living the life of her exotic half-sister, Bee Bearhorn, a pop singer who had a #1 hit single before she inexplicably vanished from the celebrity scene. She gets her chance when Bee turns up dead, and Ana is dispatched to the big city to clear out the apartment of her once-beloved sister. Instantly seduced by the secondhand glamour of Bee’s baubles, bangles, and bottles of champagne, Ana takes up with Bee’s wild club-hopping cronies, along with her sexy chauffeur. But news of visits to a remote country cottage and an elusive ex-boyfriend soon prove Bee was leading a secret life. Now Ana is on a mission to discover the truth a
bout Bee Bearhorn, the one-hit wonder‌—and in the process finds herself, and her future.

  An irresistibly entertaining tale of a woman who takes control of her life by temporarily taking on someone else’s, One-Hit Wonder is this acclaimed author at her witty and captivating best.

  Lisa Jewell is the bestselling author of Ralph’s Party and thirtynothing. She lives in London with her husband and their cat.

  Visit www.lisajewell.com

  Cover design by Melissa Jacoby

  Cover photograph by Stockbyte

  Author photograph by Stephen Simpson/FPG

  DUTTON

  A member of Penguin Putnam Inc.

  Copyright

  DUTTON

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

  Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia

  Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2

  Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand

  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England

  Published by Dutton, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc.

  Originally published in Great Britain by Penguin Books Ltd.

  First American Printing, June 2002

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Copyright © Lisa Jewell, 2001

  All rights reserved

  Extract from Kingsley Amis’s letter to Philip Larkin © 2000

  The Estate of Kingsley Amis and HarperCollins Publishers

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

  Jewell, Lisa.

  One-hit wonder / Lisa Jewell.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 0-525-94653-5 (acid-free paper)

  1. Impostors and imposture‌—Fiction. 2. London (England)‌—Fiction. 3. Sisters‌—Death‌—Fiction. 4. Women singers‌—Fiction. 5. Young women‌—Fiction. I. Title.

  PR6060.E95 O64 2002

  823’.914‌—dc21 2001054328

  Printed in the United States of America

  Set in Sabon

  Designed by Leonard Telesca

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This book is printed on acid-free paper.

  v1.0 November 2004; scripter

  scan, conversion, proofing