This book has been a very, very long time coming, and I need to thank everyone at Michael Joseph for their tremendous patience and understanding. In particular, I am grateful to the deeply kind and clever Louise Moore, who refused to give up on me, even when I had absolutely given up on myself. Thank you to Maxine Hitchcock and Tilda McDonald for your sensitive and insightful editing and warm support, and to Donna Poppy for your painstaking work on the manuscript: it is a better novel because you have all been involved. To Nick Lowndes, Jenny Platt, Ellie Hughes and all of the brilliant and talented Penguins – thank you for your efforts.
I am thankful, as always, to Jonathan Lloyd and his team at Curtis Brown for everything that they do.
And finally, to friends and family who have believed in my ability to write again and told me so – you may not quite understand how important you have been. And to you, Dave, Tallulah and Ottilie, for bringing the joy. I am inordinately proud of the three of you, and I love you all more than I can say.