A book never comes out into the world in isolation and Inheritance of Secrets is no exception. I couldn’t have written it without all the people who have supported me, whether it was by answering the endless research questions I fired at them, or reading early drafts, or just encouraging me to keep going, by believing in me, which was the greatest support of all. So bear with me, and I sincerely hope I don’t leave anyone out.
Thank you first and foremost to my dad. He was my inspiration for the novel, a wonderful source of information, a reader of first drafts and my greatest supporter. He believed without question that I could write this, just accepted in his own quiet way that I was doing it, and discussed it as if it was a certainty. I wish he could have seen the final product.
Also to my mom for passing on her passion for books, and for leading by example so that reading was as natural as breathing while I was growing up.
Thank you to all the people who helped with the research: the countless staff and curators of museums and libraries both in Australia and Germany who answered my questions and pointed me in the right directions; my trusty consultant who advised me on police procedure and the scenarios I threw at him with the question, ‘Is this feasible?’; Martin Spreen, who corrected my atrocious German grammar and provided advice on the protocol of German names and forms of address; Megan Bates for answering questions about the hospital setting; and Graham and Jackie Bates, who shared their experiences of growing up in South Australia in the 1950s. The research involved in writing this novel was huge and there were times when I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I have tried to be as accurate as possible, and any mistakes are mine and mine alone.
There were a number of people who read early drafts and provided feedback and encouragement. The wonderful writers in my critique group – Steve, Susan, Poppy, Helmine, Sandy, Joel, Debbie and Ros. And friends and family – Jen, Mary, Brian, Natalie, Claudia, Tom, Julia and Stephanie. Thank you all. Your thoughts, suggestions and enthusiasm for the story were invaluable and helped me to improve the manuscript to a point where it was accepted for publication.
Which leads me to the wonderful team at HarperCollins Australia. I am grateful that HarperCollins saw fit to introduce the Banjo Prize in 2018, just when my manuscript was ready to enter. It brought the story to their attention, and I will always remember the moment I learned that it had been shortlisted. Thank you to Katherine Hassett for believing in the manuscript and taking it on board. Thanks also to my publisher, Anna Valdinger, for her undying enthusiasm, organisation, knowledge and support; to George Saad and the design team for knocking their heads against the wall, but coming up with the perfect cover in the end; to my campaign manager, Kimberley Allsopp, for all her efforts in marketing the book. And to Madeleine James, editor extraordinaire, thank you for your wonderful feedback, for the long phone calls and multitudes of emails and for allowing me to run scenarios and thoughts past you to sort it all out in my head. You really helped to bring the novel up to the next level.
Finally, but most importantly, I have to thank my family, who are the centre around which my life revolves. Thank you to my girls, Megan and Claudia, who have been an inspiration and a source of encouragement throughout my writing career. And to my husband, Russell, who didn’t blink an eye when I said I needed time to write this novel and who encouraged me to quit speech pathology and follow my dream. It’s now coming true and I couldn’t have done it without you.