The Dead Wife's Handbook
Page 39
My agent, Luigi Bonomi, is the kind of agent every writer dreams of but only a few of us are lucky enough to have; he took a punt on a single chapter and his editorial insights, commercial astuteness and belief in the narrative were fundamental to shaping what the book would eventually become. He also does a pretty good line in avuncular advice to first-time mums.
I’m indebted to Stephanie Jackson for reading everything I’ve ever written and for her steadfast encouragement that I’d one day be publishable.
Horatia Lawson and James Ingle do the world’s greatest line in love, lunches and enduring friendship, and life would be immeasurably duller without them in it.
My nieces – Tamsin, Maddy, Jemima, Tilly, Esme and Lois – taught me so much about little girls before I had my own and inadvertently provided me with some of the better lines of dialogue contained herein.
My grandparents, Bidsa and Ronnie Beckerman, may no longer be alive to read this for themselves but their extensive ripples of influence – their love, pride and nourishment (both intellectual and culinary) – really will survive for generations.
My mum, Tania Bowler, has spent close to forty years walking the ten blocks (and back) for me more times than I can remember and I hope this book is, at least in part, testament to everything she’s taught me about maternal commitment. And I’m delighted that she’s had Jerry to keep her company (and make her happy) on her most recent journeys.
My beautiful daughter, Aurelia, arrived just in time to show me that parenthood is everything I’d imagined it would be (and more), and to open up an emotional world that’s infinitely richer and considerably more fun than I would have dared hope.
And to my husband, Adam Jackson: saying a mere thank you seems woefully inadequate given that without his love, support, wise counsel and insightful readings – not to mention numerous weekends of solo childcare – the book would never have been finished. But thank you and I love you.
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Published in Penguin Books 2014
Copyright © Hannah Beckerman, 2014
Cover illustration by Kate Forrester
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ISBN: 978-1-405-91281-5