I’ve been incredibly lucky to have so many talented and supportive people helping me, and my book, along the way.
To my brilliant agent, Hellie Ogden: a huge thank-you for all your support, wisdom, advice, inspiration, and for always keeping the faith! You really have brought me a long way. Thank you also to Will Francis, Kate Longman, Kirsty Gordon, and all of the fantastic Janklow & Nesbit team.
To my incredible editors: Kimberley Atkins at Hodder, for your vision and enthusiasm from day one, and Danielle Dieterich at Putnam, for all the extra insight you brought. You two have an astonishing talent for bringing out the best in a book. Thank you for taking so much time and care, and for giving feedback that made me excited about rewriting! Thank you also to Helen O’Hare for seeing the book’s potential in the U.S. and for your invaluable input in the early stages of editing. Thanks to Hazel Orme and Madeline Hopkins for the perceptive copyediting, Amy Batley at Hodder for all your help, Rebecca Folland and the rights team at Hachette, and to everyone at Hodder, and at Putnam, who have made the whole process extremely enjoyable.
To Anna and John Cotton, and Charlotte and Sam Strong: Your feedback helped shape this book in the very beginning, and our writing group sessions were a great source of support and fun. (The pizzas were nice too.) A heartfelt thanks goes to all the friends and family who have kept asking about my writing over the years, cheered me on, and celebrated with me—you know who you are and I hope you know how much it has meant. Thank you to Jimmy for being endlessly supportive, for hours spent decorating my office, and for answering questions about cars and flooring for the book! And thank you to Mum, Dad, and Gramms, who have bought, read, and shared everything I’ve ever had in print; to Christine and Yass for inspiring the setting (and the mentions of Harry Potter); to Daisy for insights into Snapchat and other things I’m too old to know about; and to my nephews just for making me smile.