First and foremost, a heartfelt thank you to my writing mentor, Lee Weatherly. A talented author, Lee is also one of the best in the business at assessing other writers’ manuscripts. Luckily for me, she’s also a wonderfully kind human being – the type to take in a puppy abandoned in a foreign country and a stray writer with the dream of one day being published. Without Lee’s expert editorial eye, support and generosity, this book would not exist.

I must also thank my dear friend Maddy Elruna, a gifted shaman and tarot reader who introduced me to the Norse gods. Her belief, passion and dedication to Hel and the Norns inspired me to write this story and she has been a constant source of encouragement throughout my journey to publication.

Thank you to the team at Hot Key Books for making me feel so very welcome, and for the gentle and insightful guidance of my editor Felicity Johnston and the keen eye of copy editor Talya Baker. Thanks to Mathilde Skjerpen Fongen for her translation work in helping to ensure the narrative is authentic as possible, and to Rohan Eason for illustrating the front cover and Cherie Chapman for the book design.

I’m hugely grateful to my ever-patient agent, Amber Caraveo of Skylark Literary. Genuinely passionate about books, super-sharp and thorough to a fault, I could not ask for better.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to my very many beta readers (the Goodreads community is amazing!) for reading early versions of this book and my other writing projects. Also my SCBWI critique group and the Lewes Snowdrop Writers – I have learned so much from you.

A big shout-out to everyone in the village who has shown me support and encouragement – you know who you are!

A special thank-you to my mum, Leoni, who has read endless drafts of my work over the years and who instilled a love of writing in me in the first place. I love you.

Finally, thank you to my partner, Andy. You have been a ray of sunshine in my life since you walked into it more than ten years ago. Thank you for believing in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. Like so many things, I couldn’t have done it without you.