This does not happen alone. I am indebted to my agent, Jonny Geller, for his impeccable advice and support, and the wider Curtis Brown team. No thanks big enough to my editors, Maxine Hitchcock and Matilda McDonald, at Penguin for their flawless editorial advice and for caring about the book as much as I do. Thanks also to copy-editor Hazel Orme for her meticulous professionalism, and to Emma Henderson and Ellie Hughes for all their hard work and dedication.
Growing up in Norfolk, the bleak Fenland landscape always seemed a mystical place. Thanks to Marina Allpress, my guide to the Fens, and to Patrick Mahoney, lock keeper at Hermitage Lock. I’m very grateful to Dr Carolyn Gabriel for her advice on conversion disorder, to Suzanne O’ Sullivan for allowing me to quote from It’s All in Your Head, and to Dr Rowan Burnstein at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.
Special thanks to Phil Robertson and to other involved friends and family (an understatement): Helen Baker, Lucy Fergusson, Sarah Harrison, Charlotte Simpson-Orlebar, Helen Townsend, and Henry Tricks. To Ed and Maia for their ruthless edits, and to Felix and Caspar.