Little Pieces of Sophie (77,000 words)
Ever since he was a child, 26-year-old Jack Willoughby has been unable to forget Sophie, his long-lost childhood sweetheart who once saved his life by donating bone marrow. As an only child, he had been especially close to Sophie until, when they were twelve, she and her mother suddenly moved to New Zealand to live with her Māori family, cutting off contact a year later.
In 2003, in Lancashire, reeling from a breakup with his partner and feeling abandoned by his hypocritical father, Jack travels to New Zealand in hopes of rekindling his friendship with Sophie. Once in Wellington, he is too afraid to approach Sophie directly, so he devises a plan for her to find him. As they get to know each other again, Sophie introduces Jack to her employer, Bob Biggs, an Englishman and owner of Melay Cosmetics. Bob offers Jack a job, and soon after invites him and Sophie to his subsidiary in Bangladesh. While in Dhaka, they uncover Melay’s unethical practices in promoting toxic skin-lightening products and infant formula. United by their shared desire to make a difference, they vow to expose Bob and his company.
Their mission brings them closer together, and they fall in love. Back in New Zealand, they approach a journalist and secretly gather evidence linking Bob’s company to corrupt politicians in England and New Zealand. But when Sophie discovers Jack’s manipulative plan to reconnect with her, their relationship begins to fracture. She believes he was stalking her, while he insists he had to control chance because of his fear of rejection.
As their bond frays, Jack proposes an audacious scheme to bring down Bob. Reluctantly, Sophie agrees. With the help of the journalist, they expose Bob’s wrongdoings, toppling his empire. Jack, who once believed his luck had run out after finding a bone marrow donor, she was obsessed with controlling the odds and that he cannot control everything, especially love.
In the aftermath, Sophie discovers she’s pregnant. When Jack learns that his father is dying, he returns to England with her. After his father’s death, Jack uncovers a letter from Sophie’s mother, written a year after their arrival in New Zealand, which insists that all contact between Jack and Sophie be severed. Feeling betrayed and angry that his father may have had a relationship with Sophie’s mother, and that he and Sophie may be half-siblings, Jack is left to decide whether to tell Sophie.