THE FIRST DRAFT of this project was written with the support of the Australia Council for the Arts. Three years later the novel was completed while I was the 2023 HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellow at the Australian National University. I am deeply grateful to Dr Lucy Neave and all at the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences for the time, space and encouragement provided by this opportunity. Writing NSW provided a place to write (occasionally) and a sense of community (always).
Thank you Grace Heifetz for your integrity, kindness and courage-boosting; Jane Palfreyman for being the wise, staunch, giant-hearted publisher of my dreams; Federico Andornino for your enthusiasm and next-level brilliant editorial notes.
Thank you Ali Lavau for editing with such precision and curiosity, and Christa Munns for meticulous editing and organisational oversight. Thank you to everyone at Allen & Unwin and Sceptre for exemplary care at every stage.
Thank you Meredith Griffiths for long, wine-soaked conversations that helped me articulate vital elements of this novel and for helping me hold my nerve. Thank you Natasha Rai for being my first reader. I am so grateful for your perceptive, generous feedback and even more so for your friendship.
Thank you to my families (of birth, marriage and choice). Your unwavering love makes all things possible. Thank you Jeff for everything, always.