Brody chuckled. And I did too – a joyous burst effervescing up in us both like champagne. For so long I’d been telling myself that the trouble with the future is that it wasn’t what it used to be, only to suddenly realise that the present had turned out to be beautifully gift-wrapped.

Acknowledgements

With thanks to my darling sisters, Jenny, Cara and Liz, for their perspicacious editorial notes. For adding various bits of verisimilitude, thanks to Detective Niall O’Caroll, Doctor Clio Kennedy, Adam Hills, Steve York, Michelle Black, Angela Bowne, Fran Delano, Kate Shea and Patrick Cook. With love to my cherished mum, the crossword queen, for our daily dose of mental aerobics. Thanks also to Georgie and Jules, and Brian, for your unconditional love and days of laughter.

On the publishing side, thanks to Meredith Curnow and Kathryn Knight for nursing the novel through conception to the delivery ward. But next time, may I have a creative epidural, please?

And to PR queen Karen Reid, also known as Chopper, and my agents, Tara Wynne and Jonathan Lloyd.

To Zahra Hanbury and Jaynie Morris, good on you for supporting osteoporosis research and the Country Fire Authority of Victoria by bidding for roles in HRT. I hope you’re both grateful I kept your pants on.

Finally, to all my female friends, enjoy your second act. Hope to swing from a chandelier with you soonish.

About the author

Kathy Lette is a celebrated and outspoken comic writer with an inimitable take on serious current issues. She is the author of fourteen bestselling novels, including Puberty Blues, which was made into a major film and a TV miniseries, Mad Cows, which was also made into a film, starring Joanna Lumley, and How to Kill Your Husband (And other handy household hints), which was staged by the Victorian Opera. She pioneered smart, funny, feminist fiction and has been published in seventeen languages.

Kathy is an autodidact (clearly it’s a word she taught herself) but has honorary doctorates from Southampton and Wollongong universities, and a Senior Honorary Fellowship from Regent’s University London.

She is an ambassador for Plan International and the National Autistic Society UK. Kathy lives in Sydney and in London, and can often be found at The Savoy Hotel drinking a cocktail named after her. She cites her career highlights as once teaching Stephen Fry a word and Salman Rushdie the limbo, and scripting Julian Assange’s cameo in the 500th episode of The Simpsons.

Also by Kathy Lette

After the Blues

Best Laid Plans

Courting Trouble

Love is Blind (But Marriage is a Real Eye-Opener)

The Boy Who Fell to Earth

Men: A User’s Guide

To Love, Honour and Betray

How to Kill Your Husband (And Other Handy Household Hints)

Nip ’n’ Tuck

Dead Sexy

Altar Ego

Mad Cows

Hit and Ms

Foetal Attraction

The Llama Parlour

Girls’ Night Out

Puberty Blues (co-author)

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