To Uncle Zbyszek, who lit the touch paper, Vincent Gillespie, who fanned the flames, Jane Hawkes and Mary Garrison, who curbed the wild fire, and my colleagues and students at Oxford University, who light fires of their own.

And to those I love.

‘They who love most shall be most blessed, not they who lead the most austere life, for love outweigheth this.’

Ancrene Wisse: Guide for Anchoresses