Thanks also to fellow students, Craig and Richard for their friendship, advice and help. Thanks to Mick Jackson for taking time to help a green writer and for the great advice to get more childcare and ditch the first thirty pages. And thanks to Lucy and Polly for the amazing childcare, which has given me the space to write this book (and for being absolutely nothing like Aggie). Thank you Clare Reihill for being the first person to invite me in and for introducing me to my editor, Clare Smith, who has not only taken a chance on me, but has been patient, encouraging and insightful. Thanks also to Carol MacArthur for never seeming annoyed by my incessant questions. Thanks to my amazing friends, not just for making life more fun, but also for reading my many attempts and speaking endless words of encouragement; most especially Polly, Emily M, Emily S, Dolly, Shami, Amy, Clare, Bryony, Sophie, Eve and Paula. And thanks to Penny for your help and enthusiasm. Also my sisters Posy and Ernestina and my brothers Algy, Ferdy and Silas and their partners Jonny, Ben, Emily and Laura for staying interested and reading.
