I’m coming home.

THE NEXT THRILLER BY NUALA ELLWOOD

THE PERFECT LIFE

We’ve all wanted to be someone we’re not.

But what if you were caught in the wrong place, at the wrong time, while pretending to be someone else?

Now everyone thinks you killed him …

COMING SOON

PRE-ORDER NOW

Acknowledgements

Huge thanks and appreciation to the incredible team at Penguin: my editor, Katy Loftus, for championing this book from the start and being a constant source of encouragement and inspiration; Rosanna Forte for your excellent insight and advice; Georgia Taylor for your tireless and innovative digital and marketing work; and Karen Whitlock for your meticulous copy-editing.

I’d also like to thank my agent, Madeleine Milburn, for being there for me right from the start and for always believing in my work. Thank you, Maddy, for being such a constant source of inspiration and sound advice. You’re the best. Thanks also to Giles Milburn, Hayley Steed, Alice Sutherland-Hawes and the team at MMLA for all your support.

Love and gratitude to all the readers and bloggers who have championed my books over the years. I hope you enjoy reading The House on the Lake as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

The House on the Lake was written during a period of change and tumult in my life that I couldn’t have got through without the support of some very special people. Love and thanks to Fiona, Adam, Siobhan, Daniel, Catherine and Kat. Your kind words and support have meant so much to me.

I want to thank my lovely mother, Mavis, who is the strongest person I know. You introduced me to nature at an early age and ignited a spark that has never waned. Here’s to more sightings of our lucky fox!

Thanks also to my father, Luke, for the walks in the Dales that formed the basis of The House on the Lake. You have been my guide and inspiration all my life, Dad, and you continue to be. ‘Words have value,’ you once told me, and yours will stay with me for ever.

This book was inspired by the work of some of my favourite nature writers. Thanks and appreciation go to: Sarah Hall, Robert Macfarlane, Olivia Laing, George Monbiot and the memory of the indomitable Hannah Hauxwell, first lady of the Dales. Also, respect and gratitude to Tori Amos, whose song ‘Winter’ was pretty much played on repeat as I wrote The House on the Lake.

Thanks also to the wonderful writers, publishers and booksellers who have come into my life over the course of writing this novel. To Jane Corry, Emma Curtis, William Shaw, Beth Underdown, Cara Hunter, Simon Lelic, Mel and Richard Drake, Haris Nikolakakis and Irene Sinodinou. I admire you all so much.

This book is about finding out who you really are, reclaiming your true self and coming home. I’d like to thank Arthur for helping me do the same. Always.