THE FIRST THANK YOU has to go to Robyn Drury, without whom this book would probably not exist. As my agent, she was calm, badass and integral to the development of this whole idea. She also has an admirable commitment to Italian carbs which improved the whole process. Thank you, too, to Diane Banks and Martin Redfern at Diane Banks Associates for their representation, drinks, and particularly their loyal support during a tough incident.
Thank you to my fantastic publisher, Catherine Milne at Harper Collins, whose initial response to my proposal for this book is printed on a tiny piece of paper and lodged in my wallet. Thank you to Gesche Ipsen at Duckworth for seeing the potential and to Matt Casbourne and Thogdin Ripley. Thank you also to Belinda Yuille and Jeanmarie Morosin for their hawk-like attention to detail. It takes more people than you can imagine to make a book like this and I’d like to thank everyone who has worked on it in any capacity — there are some whose names I do not even know. Writing is a lonely pursuit, so it is a strange and extreme delight to have an entire team help you execute an idea you had sitting in Hyde Park in 2015.
Thank you to every single person who spoke to me for this book, be they stranger from the Internet, academic, scientist, therapist, entrepreneur or evolutionary psychologist. Thank you, especially, to the strangers who gallantly volunteered their private stories of friendship, love and heartache. I very much hope I have done them justice and ask forgiveness for the ones that didn’t make it into the final version of this book.
Thank you, of course, to my friends: to everyone who liked my Facebook updates about the book, everyone who did me the great honour of reading this book, everyone who kept me company over wine or coffee or on Twitter. Thank you to Rosie Waterland and Jamila Rizvi for being my own personal Oprahs. The most special, loving, adoring, effusive, eternal and infinite thank you to the members of the following WhatsApp groups: Greece 2017, Bridesmaids, Brotato Chips and XXX Girls Girls Girls XXX. This book is for you.
Thank you to my beautiful family for their relentless enthusiasm, love, support, loyalty and cuteness. Thank you especially to my mum and my dad, who have been such patient, wonderful cheerleaders for this book and for my mad decision to make a living out of writing words. Thank you to my grandma and my papa, who are no longer here but taught me to love the English language.
And finally, thank you to my darling Jono. Our life together is a dream.