I travelled to the Hamptons to research this book, and most of Ro’s teething troubles were my own – driving badly from JFK airport, coming to terms with flagels and complicated coffees . . . Much of what you read about the setting is technically accurate – the square in Amagansett, for example, where Ro and Hump’s studio is, Mary’s Marvellous, their local coffee shop, the Maidstone Club and, of course, East Hampton itself with its three Ralph Lauren stores (still gobsmacked by that), the hardware store, bookstore . . . But it should be said that plot-wise, what you read is completely fictitious. There is indeed a Coastal Erosion Committee, there is indeed a LWRP and Strategic Retreat is a real policy, but I have manipulated reports/recommendations entirely for the purposes of the story and to my knowledge there has never been a murder at the Maidstone Club!
This book owes a huge debt to my editor, Caroline Hogg, who was endlessly patient as I wrote, then re-wrote, and then re-wrote it again. Also, my copy-editor, Laura Collins, who unpicked and realigned the all-important timeline for the story, thus giving it its emotional power. If this book succeeds at all, it is because of the transformative powers of editing, and I thank everyone who has collaborated on it with me.
Amanda Preston, you are now up there with my husband and children as I say to you: Never leave me!
To my parents and my parents-in-law, thank you for enabling me to have it all – the career and the kids. I couldn’t meet my deadlines without you, knowing that the children are adored, safe . . . and being plied with sweets. And to Anders and our babes, you are my hub, my heart, my home.