As I continue to follow the lives of Kitty, Celia and Bridie, I continue to rely on my dear friend and consultant Tim Kelly for research and guidance. Our regular meetings, over porter cake and cups of Bewley’s tea, have provided me with entertainment as well as information and his wonderful stories keep me laughing long after he has left my house. I am so grateful to my books for they have given me a great friend in Tim.
I would like to thank my mother, Patty Palmer-Tomkinson, for reading the first draft and editing out all the grammatical errors and ill-chosen words, thus saving my editor at Simon & Schuster from what is probably the least interesting part of her job! My mother is patient and enthusiastic and her advice is always wise. She’s also a very intuitive person and a sound judge of character, I have learned a lot from her. I’d also like to thank my father because I wouldn’t be writing these books if I hadn’t had the magical childhood they gave me in the most beautiful corner of England. Everything that goes into my work flows directly from them.
Writing a scene about the Derby was always going to be a challenge, but I would not have attempted it without the help of David Watt. Thank you so much, Watty, for reading it through and correcting it—and for suggesting many ways to improve it.
Thank you Emer Melody, Frank Lyons and Peter Nyhan for your warm Irish encouragement and Julia Twigg for helping me research Johannesburg.
My agent, Sheila Crowley, deserves an enormous thank you. She’s the best agent a writer can have because she’s there when I need a counselor, when I need a friend, when I need a strategist and when I need a warrior. Quite simply, she’s always there when I need her Full Stop. Her mantra “onward and upward” reflects her positive and determined attitude and every time she says it I’m grateful that she’s taking me with her!
Working with Sheila at Curtis Brown are Katie McGowan, Rebecca Ritchie, Abbie Greaves, Alice Lutyens and Luke Speed and I thank them all for working so hard on my behalf.
I’m so fortunate to be published by Simon & Schuster. I feel that it’s a family and that I belong there. I’d like to thank them all for turning my career around in 2011 with my first Sunday Times bestseller and for continuing to put such dedication and drive into publishing my books. A massive thank you to my editor-in-chief, Suzanne Baboneau, for editing my novels with such good judgment and tact. The manuscript is always hugely improved by her appraisal and pruning and my confidence lifted by her enthusiasm and encouragement. I thank Ian Chapman for being the wind in my sails, or should I say sales! I thank him for giving me that break five years ago and for turning my books into the successes that I’d always hoped they would be. I’d also like to thank Clare Hey, my editor, and the brilliant team she works with, for putting so much energy into my books. They all do a fantastic job and I’m so grateful to every one of them: Dawn Burnett, Toby Jones, Emma Harrow, Ally Grant, Gill Richardson, Laura Hough, Dominic Brendon and Sally Wilks.
My husband, Sebag, has been key in plotting the Deverill Chronicles with me and encouraging me to challenge myself by venturing off my familiar path. He’s so busy with his own books but he took the trouble to read through the manuscript and share his ideas. I’m glad I took his advice because I believe I have written something that will really entertain my readers—I have certainly entertained myself in writing it. He’s my most cherished friend, my most honest critic, my most loyal ally and my greatest supporter. Thanks to Sebag I believe I am the best I can be.
And finally thank you to my daughter Lily and my son Sasha for giving me joy, laughter and love.