Firstly, a huge thank you to Beth Sampson who made a very generous donation to the charity DEBRA (www.debra.org.uk) in memory of her mother, Judy Sampson, in return for having me name one of my characters after her.
As ever, I’m indebted to everyone at Penguin (especially the fabulous Louise Moore) and at Curtis Brown (my agent, Jonny Geller, in particular). I’d name you all individually but I’d probably leave someone out accidentally, and imagine how awkward it would be whenever I came into the office then.
Thanks to Stephanie Moore and Charlotte Willow-Edwards for asking questions on my behalf, and to all those who answered them including The Mandarin Oriental, The Haymarket and The Four Seasons Hotels, Liv Smith Fallon, Kerry Hinbest and Joe Johnson.