Acknowledgements
“What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know.”
So wrote Saint Augustine of Hippo more than 1,500 years ago, but I’d like to thank the authors of the following books for helping me to explore my own questions about time: The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli, Time Travel by James Gleick, Your Brain is a Time Machine by Dean Buonomano, Time by Eva Hoffman, Relativity: A Graphic Guide by Bruce Bassett and Ralph Edney, Time and the Conways by J. B. Priestley, Ammonites and Leaping Fish by Penelope Lively, The Voice That Thunders by Alan Garner, Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot, Fragments by Heraclitus, and Pieces of Light by Charles Fernyhough. As Old Crony says, the song of time lives inside your mind, so I’d also like to thank Kate Bush for her wonderful songs exploring time, memory and the moments that matter.
The writer Robert Macfarlane has spoken of the importance of reconnecting young people with the natural world and I’d like to thank the authors of the following books for showing me the way into the woods: The Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane, Woodlands by Oliver Rackham, Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees by Roger Deakin, Oak and Ash and Thorn by Peter Fiennes, The Ash and the Beech by Richard Mabey, Gossip from the Forest by Sara Maitland, Badgerlands by Patrick Barkham, and The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris. I’d also like to make a special mention of the author, illustrator and naturalist Denys Watkins-Pitchford, who wrote under the pen name BB, for the inspiration I found in his timeless writings about the natural world, especially his novel Brendon Chase, which in some ways this story is a strange tribute to.
Huge thanks to The Society of Authors’ Authors’ Foundation for the grant they provided to support my research for this novel, and to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust for the sterling work they do managing Lower Woods, where the novel is set. I’d also like to thank my fantastic agent, Lucy Juckes, and my wonderful editor, Kirsty Stansfield, for all their support and advice. Thank you too to Fi, Catherine, Nicola, Hester, Rebecca, Kate, Ola, Michela, Tom, Julia and all the team at Nosy Crow.
Finally, I’d like to thank my family for all their love, support and understanding. Thank you to my mum and my brother for helping me through the woods when I was growing up, and to my wonderful wife and children for helping me to see the sunlight through the trees.
Charlie, Dizzy and Johnny only live in the pages of this story, but their characters have been inspired by the bravery of countless people who helped to build a better world. Nobody gets to choose the time in which they live, but, as Old Crony says, we shape the future with every action we take. Keep reading and change the world.
Copyright
First published in the UK in 2019 by Nosy Crow Ltd
The Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place
Crosby Row, London SE1 1YW
www.nosycrow.com
www.christopheredge.co.uk
ISBN: 978 1 78800 494 7
eISBN: 978 1 78800 555 5
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd
Text copyright © Christopher Edge, 2019
Cover and chapter opener illustrations copyright © Matt Saunders, 2019
Inside illustrations copyright © Christina Edge, 2019
The right of Christopher Edge to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.
All rights reserved
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Nosy Crow Ltd.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Printed and bound in the UK by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A Typeset by Tiger Media
Papers used by Nosy Crow are made from wood grown in sustainable forests
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The Longest Night of Charlie Noon Page 11
