Much gratitude to my lovely desk editor Samantha Fletcher for all her help and hard work, Mel Four for the fantastic cover design, Hannah Corbett for providing great publicity, Emma Draude and Bethan James at EDPR who were a delight to work with, Rosie Wilson for all her help with the launch, and Sarah Arratoon in marketing for all the brilliant ways in which she promoted both me and the book. Thanks also to the copy-editor Laura Collins, proofreader Karen Whitlock and anyone else at Mantle and Pan Macmillan who has been part of getting this book out into the world.

For all the joy that having this book published has brought me, there’s also huge sadness that my mum and dad never got to witness it. The last time the novel was discussed with my dad, he said, ‘When’s it going to be finished? It’s taking longer than Gone with the Wind.’ I hope he somehow knows that it’s now complete, and that it took me one year less than Margaret Mitchell. My mum believed in me my whole life and supported everything I wanted to do, presuming that I was perfectly capable of doing it (even if I thought the opposite). They both died only months apart in 2015, and it was after my mum’s death that I dug out a terrible abandoned version of the book, and rewrote it from scratch, with a totally different angle. Then when my dad died, I had no choice but to channel all my grief into writing. How bittersweet that the best thing that has happened to me has come out of the worst thing that has happened to me. I love you Mum and Dad and thank you for everything.

Huge thanks to Gavin Towers who, with the non-existent spare time he had, read the manuscript and helped enormously by highlighting its awfulness and guiding me towards improvements. The biggest accolade being when he read the final draft and said, ‘It’s actually pretty good. I’m genuinely surprised.’

I must also include Victoria Towers and Martin Serene. Mainly because I just must include them, but also for being family and supporting me throughout this journey.

To Edward Knight, my dearest friend and business partner, for being someone who always believed in me and shaped my creativity in my adult life. Without him allowing me the freedom to write whilst I should have been doing the day job, there would be no book and for that I am eternally grateful.

To my amazing friends, Sian Hall and Sarah Keller, for being there as support whilst both writing and negotiating grief. Especially Sarah for helping me get out of ‘the wedding dress pickle’. And Angela Feely for being there throughout the rollercoaster of submissions and edits, and Grace Feely for being its first reader and making me believe that people may actually like it.