As usual, there are so many people who have made the writing of this book easier, and possible. Firstly, I’d like to thank the amazing team at Aria Fiction for all of their help, encouragement and support. Thank you to my editor, Sarah Ritherdon, Vicky, Nicky and Lucy, and Sue Smith and Rose Fox for their expertise and input. In a similar vein, Sara Keane, my agent, for her continuing support, guidance and encouragement.
This time I have several cider professionals to thank, too. A huge thank you to Martin Thatcher of Thatcher’s Cider for being so interesting and engaging to interview and providing me with a real insight into how a multi-national cider firm works from the ground up. Likewise, Julia Barton for answering my many questions, and the tour of the business (and allowing me access to one of my favourite locations to write about, the oak vats!). Finally, another huge thank you to Richard Johnson, Chief Cider Maker for Thatcher’s, who is an absolute fount of cider knowledge and expertise, and brilliant to talk to.
There are two real Weimaraner dogs I have to include in the acknowledgements – my own, Bertie (who became Barney in this book) and the gorgeous Niyah, owned by my dear friend Taj. Mad they may be, but they’re also the best dogs in the world.
As ever, the family has been amazing at dealing with me when I’m in thrall to a story, and Nick, Flora, Rosie, Peter, Linda, Helen, Michael, Luke and Penny all know just how much I appreciate your support and patience (and in some cases, proof reading!).
Friends, too, have been incredibly patient, and my thanks to Carly, Beth, Tony and Steph, among others, for being brilliantly supportive and constructive early readers. The same goes to Caroline Morris – thank you so much for staying with Little Somerby. I’m blessed to have such a fantastic network around me. I am also fortunate to include the wider circle of inspirational friends from the Romantic Novelists’ Association, who have been so wonderfully supportive throughout, especially Rachel Brimble, Teresa F Morgan, Alison Knight, Nicola Cornick and Jenny Kane.
Thanks, also, to the many and varied ‘character models’ for this novel, especially Keanu Reeves and Adam Driver, who gave me a visual for Alex, and Gwendolyn Christie and Elizabeth Debicki for Sophie. And finally, Paul Gross, aka Constable Ben Fraser of Due South, who not only gave me Alex’s last name, but also my first teenage crush, and set the benchmark for heroes for a lot of impressionable viewers of 1990s TV, myself included.
Finally, thanks to you, the readers, who have come back for another trip to Little Somerby. I am beyond grateful to each and every one of you, and I hope you’ve enjoyed spending time in the village once again.