I’m grateful to the brilliant Madeleine Milburn – for bookish matters and so much more – and to her team at MMLA, especially Alice, Hayley, Anna and Giles. Thank you to my editor Clio Cornish for her intuition, enthusiasm and belief in the story. To Vanessa Neuling, for being a wise and generous first reader.
Love and thanks to Mum, Mark and Jo for enabling me to write with a young family. Also to my friends, whose kindness never ceases to amaze me, in particular Chloe, Jen, Kate, Caroline, Vanessa, Penny, Rosie, Gemma, Mel, Sam and Emily.
Thank you to Victoria Fox for the many things she taught me.
And to Charlotte and Eleanor: my candles in the dark.