BooksBarbecue
Back A Place to Call Home Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. 52
  55. 53
  56. 54
  57. Epilogue
  58. Author’s Note
  59. Acknowledgments
  60. More from Fay Keenan
  61. About the Author
  62. About Boldwood Books

I have also drawn on the real-life campaigning of the families and friends of CF patients and learned a great deal from the accounts of patients and relatives about the day-to-day implications and complications of this condition, as well as the learning processes and rewards. Although I have, again for reasons of narrative and drama, adapted these, the events in the story are based broadly on the truth of this condition and the experiences of the patients and their families. I am so grateful to those who gave up their time, and gave me such an insight. These campaigners continue to fight for the very lives of CF patients in the UK and worldwide.

Fay Keenan, July 2019

Acknowledgments

There are so many people, as always, to thank for their invaluable help with this book. Firstly, huge thanks, as ever, to the professionals who believe in me and my stories. Sara Keane, agent extraordinaire, for help, support and an incredible eye for detail. In addition, Sarah Ritherdon, my brilliant editor, whose guiding hand curbs my more florid turns of phrase and so much more, and all the team at the brilliant Boldwood Publishing for allowing me to bring this story to readers.

To Claire Wilson I give heartfelt thanks for being such a knowledgeable CF adviser and supermum. I’m in awe, constantly, of what you do and how you do it, the fights you fight to give Rufus the best chances for a long life. I’m still crossing my fingers for you and the other CF families, that things will change. I couldn’t have written a lot of this book without you and your help – thanks so much for fact checking the draft and answering a lot of questions.

I made quite a few jokes about having politicians in the chair for this novel, but in all seriousness, I owe huge thanks to Liam Fox, John Penrose and James Heappey, all Members of Parliament for the West Country, who were so generous with their time and candid in their answers to my wide ranging and slightly odd questions. Your insights into the pleasure and pain of your job, and your openness in talking about them have been so incredibly useful – thank you so much. Additional thanks to James for being such a brilliant and informative tour guide for my day at Westminster. In a similar vein, huge thanks to Ione Douglas, Marc Aplin, Zainab Hussain and Melissa French for facilitating these meetings, and extra thanks to Melissa for talking me through the role of an MP’s caseworker, being a mine of useful information and showing me the office setup of a constituency MP. Final thanks on the political side to Sarah Axton, who again gave such a good insight into the role of the constituency office in an MP’s life and work.