Family Secrets was born on a wet afternoon in Hobart when I read Vita Sackville West’s wonderful novel, All Passion Spent, and began thinking of a novel about a woman who had just lost her husband. So thank you, Vita – I can barely believe it took me so long to discover it. Special thanks, too, to Imelda Whelehan and David Sadler, for not only making me so welcome in your lovely house in Sandy Bay, but also allowing me to steal it and make it (with minor adjustments) into Connie’s family home.
My sincere thanks are due to those people who generously made time to talk with me about the writing of this book: Lynnley McGrath, Mary Rawlinson, Robin Lawrence and Kennan Taylor. Your help was valuable in assisting me to bring credibility to various aspects of the story and I appreciate it greatly.
I am so lucky to work with the wonderful people at Pan Macmillan who are now friends as well as colleagues. The amazing Cate Paterson has guided me through eight novels – I can’t imagine how I would do any of this without you, Cate. Emma Rafferty has once again brought her extraordinary insight to bear on the editing of this novel and helped me to make it very much better than the draft she first read.
And Jo Jarrah’s forensic attention has now, as always, saved me from my own mistakes of which there are always many. Special thanks, too, to publicity whiz Jace Armstrong for getting me into all the right places – in all sorts of ways. And finally, thanks to the terrific sales and marketing teams, who get the book into all the right places, and to all staff at Pan Macmillan whose consistent support, efficiency and goodwill make publishing with them such a pleasure.