Writing a book takes a whole village and there are many people to thank.
To the small band of people who read the book in its various stages – Robbie, Rachel, Tina, Christine, Ann, Janet, Laurie – thank you all. Your praise, comments and criticisms have made the book much stronger and helped us believe that it was good and not just our egos and too many glasses of sauv blanc.
To Lindsay and Kevin who helped us with some good British insults.
The crew from HarperCollins: Jo Butler, who first read the manuscript and loved it and passed it on to Anna Valdinger, and then hounded her until she read it. Anna Valdinger for loving and buying the book. Mel Maxwell and Sarina Rowell, who went through it with a fine-tooth comb. To Jane Waterhouse for our fabulous cover – we have loved all your work. To all of you, many, many thanks.
To Clare Forster, our agent, who got back to us straight away and waded through the waters for us – thank you.
To Mark and Blair, two very different men who patiently filled the gaps for us while we were writing and above all else understand that we complete each other – our love and gratitude beyond measure.
To our children – Jack and Claire and Saul, Quinn and Neve. You’re all the good bits. You fill us up and make us smile every day.
Last but not least … Midway through 2011 we were devastated by the unexpected death of our beloved mother. Our book meant so much to her and it brings us great sadness to know that she never got to see the end product or share in the excitement of the book finally hitting the shelves. It is to her we owe the greatest acknowledgement of all for, quite simply, without her, this book would never have come to fruition. Mum taught us to live, love, laugh and learn. She was passionate and political. She passed on her love of reading. She knew there was a big wide world out there and encouraged us to see it. She never considered herself too old to say sorry. She instilled in us the importance of being independent thinkers. She believed passionately that a society is judged by the way they treat their less fortunate. She urged us to live large and leave our mark on the world.
She told us that we were beautiful. That she was proud of us. That we could do/be anything. That we could conquer the world.
In short, she made us the women we are today. The colleagues, the friends, the wives, the mothers. The writers.
So thank you, Mum. You held us up so we could walk on mountains. Life without you will never be the same – always just a little bit less. We love you.