To all those others at Darley Anderson who combine their energies on my behalf. Thank you. And especially to Sheila for all her efforts in launching my screenwriting career! Thank you also to Mary and Kristina and Georgia. You are all brilliant and lovely and enormously talented people.

To Sara Helen, my amazing and talented editor. Thank you for taking away rough edges and for the polish and for understanding the book in ways that even I didn’t. I’ve always said that there’s no point in having an editor unless they’re cleverer and more imaginative than you are. And although it’s a low bar in my case, you’ve flown over it. Thank you for taking me on and welcoming me so warmly to the Raven and Bloomsbury families. Thank you to all the brilliant minds there who do such sterling and difficult but masterful work. There are countless sales and publicity and marketing heroes who work behind the scenes and have done so much to bring this book into being and I am indebted to you all.

To Greg Heinimann who designed such an evocative and striking cover, thank you. And to Lin Vasey for her work on the copy edit and to Catherine Best for her work on the proof edit who just prove that every single book is a collaboration of many. Thank you for your efforts.

I am grateful too to Ben Douglas-Jones QC who not only did me the privilege of allowing me to fictionalise him for a moment but who also kindly (together with Chris Parker) allowed me permission to reproduce and reprint (and change for the worse) an extract from the marvellous Fils de la Terre © Ben Douglas-Jones and Chris Parker. Thank you for your encouragement and giving me faith in the story.

I reserve a huge store of gratitude to Alex Tribick. In many ways there would be no books at all without Alex’s support. He knows why this is true and I want to say a deeply heart-felt thank you to him. Alex, bonnet de douche, my friend. It’s such a privilege to work with you. Sadia adds her thanks but also her commiserations to Sue (I’m not sure why).