The traditional ballad ‘The Two Sisters’, which has countless variations all over the world, includes a jealous older sister pushing a younger sister in the water to kill her.

I deliberately didn’t choose a traditional Irish traveller surname, to avoid any inference. The name Ronan means ‘little seal’ in Irish.

***

I wrote and arranged some of the songs on my You Are Wolf album, Keld, at the same time as writing part of this novel. It’s an album exploring freshwater folklore. The original track ‘Breathe in Breathe Out’ is inspired in part by Nicks and Matty. The album also features versions of ‘George Collins’ and ‘Down in the Willow Garden’.

Acknowledgements

To Ana Fletcher, for such patience, kindness and awesome editing; to Robin Robertson, especially for suggesting the swimming heartlands of central Ireland very early on, and to Daisy Watt; to Justine Taylor; and to Jessica Woollard, my agent at David Higham Associates.

To the Authors’ Award, whose kind grant enabled me to write the second half of this novel.

To Nicholas Purchase, for 1980s Highgate Men’s Pond scene-painting, and to Chris Smith from the Highgate Men’s Pond Association. To CN Lester, author of the brilliant Trans Like Me, for some early advice. To Halimah Manan for an invaluable sensitivity reading. To Alia Nardini for help with the Italian. To Jim Collins for the clarification of garda/guard/gardaí terminology. To Kevin Lynch for knowledge of the border area around Leitrim and Fermanagh, as well as the lovely AirBnB cottage at Garrison. Further AirBnB shout-outs to Eagles Rock Cottage, Glenade and the Architect’s Thatched Cottage, Co. Donegal. To Mum, for the companionship and better driving skills on initial trips to Ireland.

To all my friends and acquaintances for enthusiastically piling in on Facebook threads about video players in the 1980s and mobile phone use in the 1990s. To Dan Faircloth for the handheld computer games knowledge.

To Dr Sandra Cass-Courtney, and to Scarborough’s Crisis team. To the Mindful Movement, Lisa A Romano and the Amrit Yoga Institute on YouTube. To Mum, again, and to Ian.

To the Brockwell Lido fam, and all other outdoor swimming friends over the years, for their company and inspiration. In fond memory of Neil, late publican of The Haggerston.

To Andy, my number one outdoor swimming partner and my Men’s Pond spy, who introduced me to Roger Deakin’s Waterlog and the world of water, a world in which I always know myself.

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