I would like to express my gratitude to the Society of Authors’ Foundation for providing me with a grant to carry out research for this book.
Many thanks to Michael Heyward and Jane Pearson of Text Publishing, and to my great friend and trusted reader, Victoria Evans, for their invaluable and perceptive notes on earlier drafts of this book. Also to my editor at Saraband, Craig Hillsley, for his meticulousness and myriad insightful comments and suggestions. Thanks as well to Julie Sibony for patiently answering my questions about French stuff. Any errors are, of course, entirely mine.
To Sara Hunt: your patience, expertise and humour are extraordinary. It’s a privilege to be published by you.
And, finally, as always, to Jen, who more than ever encourages, supports and indulges me. I couldn’t do it without you.