I am grateful to a number of people for their help and encouragement.
I would like to thank Joachim Jessen and Cordelia Borchardt in Germany, my first agent and editor, without whose faith and enthusiasm this book might not have seen the light of day.
The vision, effort and kindness of the Bloomsbury team go beyond all possible expectation. In particular, I would like to thank my editor, Katie Bond, for putting so much of her enormous talent behind this book. Thank you also to Jenny Parrott, to Mary Tomlinson, for spotless copy-editing, and to Trâm-Anh Doan and Anna Robinson.
My agent, Laura Longrigg at MBA, is an invaluable source of editorial wisdom and support.
In America I am grateful for the input and guidance of Susanna Porter at Random House and also to Jillian Quint.
Huge thanks go to my early readers, especially to Elizabeth Wright, Caroline Bland and Jan Michael, and to Anne Church Bigelow, Katy Darby, John Marzillier and Jenny Stanton. I would also like to say thank you to one of my very earliest readers, Ann Fox, a great inspiration.
Last but very far from least, I would like to thank my parents and my sisters, Polly and Sophie, whose encouragement and belief have always been constant, and appreciated.