Aviva Tuffield, Antoni Jach, Sarah Tutton, Cassandra Atherton and Kim Kane took an interest in drafts of the manuscript and offered me much useful advice. Sue Gorton, Sally Gorton and John Wentworth also read drafts and supported me in various ways over the years I took to write this novel. The book has benefited greatly from Alice Grundy’s caring and skilful editorial work. Above all, I am profoundly grateful to Evelyn Juers and Ivor Indyk for their generous encouragement, advice and support.
This project has been assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.