ONCE AGAIN, IT’S HARD TO start my acknowledgments without a quick doff of my hat to France. Thank you for being inspiring, for being full of plot twists, and for providing me with a cheese for every occasion.
And then there are my people, without whom I’d be lost at sea.
Thank you:
To my agent, Greg Messina for his tenacity and tireless promotion of my work.
To my UK editor, Emily Yau for her thoughtful editing and good humor when dealing with my last-minute changes. And to the Quercus crew for their dedication and hard work in promoting this book.
To my US editor, Cherrita Lee and the teams at Amberjack and Chicago Review Press for their ongoing support and for making beautiful books.
To my foreign language publishers and translators for bringing Ella’s adventures to new readers: to Goldmann Verlag in Germany, Garzanti in Italy, Metafora in the Czech Republic, and to Lars Rambe and the teams at Hoi Förlag in Sweden and Denmark.
To my friends and family for their love and encouragement. Thanks in particular to Mum and Jules, for their perpetual willingness to chat about plotlines, fictional goat farms, and country-house renovations.
Finally, to my husband, Jamie, for nearly always being willing to read, edit, or talk about this manuscript; je t’aime. And to my darling Clementine for providing plenty of inspiration for this book and for being so damn cute.