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Back The Night of the Flood
Chapters (51)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. 1954
  7. PART 1
  8. 1.
  9. 2.
  10. 3.
  11. 4.
  12. 5.
  13. 6.
  14. 7.
  15. 8.
  16. 9.
  17. PART 2
  18. 1.
  19. 2.
  20. 3.
  21. 4.
  22. 5.
  23. 6.
  24. 7.
  25. 8.
  26. 9.
  27. 10.
  28. PART 3
  29. 1.
  30. 2.
  31. 3.
  32. 4.
  33. 5.
  34. 6.
  35. 7.
  36. PART 4
  37. 1.
  38. 2.
  39. 3.
  40. 4.
  41. 5.
  42. 6.
  43. 7.
  44. 8.
  45. 9.
  46. 10.
  47. 11.
  48. 1954
  49. Acknowledgements
  50. About the author
  51. An Invitation from the Publisher

She lights a cigarette for courage, picks up her things and turns her back on the river and is soon swept with the tide of people into the vivid, gaudy glow of the London evening.

Acknowledgements

The Night of the Flood is a work of fiction but it was inspired by real-life events. The following books were useful in my research:

The Great Tide by Hilda Grieve

1953 Essex Flood Disaster by Patricia Rennoldson Smith

Flood Alert! Norfolk 1953 by Neil R.Storey

Sculthorpe Secrecy and Stealth by Peter B.Gunn

This novel was begun on the Bath Spa MA and was given a much-needed boost by the insightful critiques and encouragement of Tessa Hadley, Nathan Filer and Kylie Fitzpatrick, to whom I am very grateful. I would also like to thank my lovely, patient supervisor, Beatrice Hitchman.

It took a long time after the MA to draft and re-draft and in that process I owe much to my friends and fellow writers from the course. Thanks go to Deb McCormick and, in particular, to Anna-Marie Crowhurst for being such an inspiration and cheerleader. I would also like to say a huge thank you to one of my greatest supporters and early readers, Harriet Bosnell. Finally, thanks go to Lily Dunn, whose post-MA course in Bristol gave me the final push I needed to complete the novel, and to the brilliant Beryl Readers who all encouraged me in my writing and continue to do so.

Most sincere thanks to my wonderful agent, Laetitia Rutherford, for believing in this novel and making me a much better writer. I am also incredibly grateful to my editor, Madeleine O’Shea, for her unswerving enthusiasm and expert editing, and to Tamsin Shelton for her brilliant copy-editing.

I must also thank family, especially my dad, James ‘Bert’ Bremner, for a book-filled childhood, and my sister, Sophie for driving me around Norfolk for research, and my amazing grandmother, Bessie, for all her love. A special mention must also go to my parents-in-law, Sue and Gordon Somerville, without whom I would never have gone to Bath Spa in the first place.

Finally, my greatest and most heartfelt thanks must go to Will, who as well as being my most critical reader, is also an endlessly supportive husband, and to Alex and Jessie, who remind me there are other things in life than books.

About the author

Zoë Somerville is a writer and English teacher. Having lived all over the world – Japan, France, Washington – she now lives in Bath with her family. After completing a creative writing MA at Bath Spa, Zoë started writing her debut novel, which is inspired by her home county, Norfolk, and the devastating North Sea flood of the 1950s.

An Invitation from the Publisher

We hope you enjoyed this book. We are an independent publisher dedicated to discovering brilliant books, new authors and great storytelling. Please join us at www.headofzeus.com and become part of our community of book-lovers.