by Liz Nugent
Acknowledgements
My family, eight siblings, in-laws and out-laws have been a constant source of support and inspiration (NOT FOR THIS BOOK). Thanks Mum and Dad especially. I am very lucky to have you.
Most of my closest friends are the ones I had before I was ever published. And since then, I have found so many new friends through festivals and book events. The kettle is on for you.
Also, to the many of you who keep me engaged and entertained on social media, thank you for your kindness and support and for being there at 4 a.m.
Professionally, first and always, my agent Marianne Gunn O’Connor who has talked me down from many a cliff and up from many an abyss. A constant friend and supporter, her tenacity and loyalty are notable in what can sometimes be a fickle business, and to Pat Lynch who ably assists Marianne in every way, and Vicki Satlow who does the business in Europe and buys me champagne in Paris.
To my warm and smart editor Patricia Deevy. Your insight and wise counsel consistently improve my books. Thank you. Thanks also to Patricia’s editorial colleague Orla King for her help.
In Penguin Ireland, Cliona Lewis does an incredible job drawing your attention to this book. Brian Walker and Carrie Anderson make sure it’s in all the best bookstores. Michael McLoughlin keeps us all going, benignly and politely.
In Penguin General UK, Joanna Prior has been my cheerleader since book one. Katy Loftus, Ellie Smith, Annie Underwood, Sam Fanaken and her sales team, Amelia Fairney, Anna Ridley and Georgia Taylor who all support in editorial, communications, production and marketing teams.
Let us not forget my gimlet-eyed copy-editor, Karen Whitlock, and proofreaders Sarah Coward and Elisabeth Merriman who conspire to make me look literate and chronologically aware. The Dead Good team have been very supportive since the start so thank you also to Rhi Griffiths, Sophie Tudor and Lizzie Marshall.
For all kinds of expertise and background information, Sue Leonard was great for the secrets of ghost-writing, Lucy Nugent CEO of Tallaght University Hospital and Helen Enright Consultant Haematologist gave expert medical advice, Rebecca O’Flanagan knows the Irish film industry inside out, Lucas Webb knew what happens and where at the Cannes Film Festival, Tara Flynn and Sinead Crowley were my Oscar experts, Jean-René Fouquerne told me all about being a Parisian schoolteacher, Conor Horgan and Michael Gallen knew about Parisian neighbourhoods and architecture, Cathy Belton gave me actress insight, Clare O’Dea was able to tell me where a rock star might play in Switzerland, Peter Nugent gave me legal advice, Fiona O’Doherty was great for psychological and psychiatric data. Thanks to the eagle-eyed Philip Nolan who, late in the day, spotted a howler that had escaped everyone else. (I owe you a pint, Philip.)
Any mistakes or factual errors are mine alone and cannot be blamed on my informants.
A debt of gratitude is owed to Nora Hickey and all at the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, where I was writer in residence for the month of April 2019, and to all at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre who don’t mind me turning up regularly like a bad penny to be inspired by the resident muse, the ghostly Miss Worby, the lake and the food, and to Paul Maddern at the River Mill Readers’ and Writers’ Retreat for never knowing how much is enough food.
To all the people in the book business who have encouraged me: Jane Casey, Sinead Crowley, Marian Keyes, Kate Beaufoy, Rick O’Shea and his incredible book club, Liz Lyons, Val McDermid, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir, Lilja Sigurdardóttir, Alexandra Sokoloff, Ed James, Sophie Hannah, Carmel Harrington, Catherine Ryan Howard, Ian Rankin, Lisa Jewell, Shari Lapena, Susi Holliday, Philip St John, Cathy Brown, Frank McGuinness, Denise Mina, Tammy Cohen, Sarah Pinborough, Dinah Jeffries, Erin Kelly, Ryan Tubridy, Will Dean, Marta Starosta, Dara O’Briain, Iain Reid, Sinead Moriarty, Claudia Carroll, Monica McInerney, Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, Vanessa Ronan, Bert Wright, Jane Harper, Sinead Gleeson, Liam McIlvanney, Vanda Symon, Fiona Sussman, Zoe Beesley, Tess McDougall, Craig Sisterson, Dame Fiona Kidman, Jackie Lynam, Alison Lyons, Amy Ridout, Dani Gill, Alex Barclay, Bob Johnston, Maria Dickenson, Sam Eades, Louisa Cameron, Jacques Filippi, Colette McBeth, Sarah Hilary, Mark Edwards, Margaret Madden, Liz Barnsley, Anne Cater, Philip Nolan, Damien O’Meara, Tara Sparling, Zoe Comyns, Claire Hennessy, Breda Browne, Sophie Grenham, Craig Robertson, David McRedmond, Donal and Anne Marie Ryan, Sebastian Barry, Erin Mitchell, Judith Mok, Michael O’Loughlin, William Ryan, Louise Kennedy, Fionnuala Kearney, Paul Maddern, Ruth Ware, Ferdia Mac Anna, Anne Clark, A. J. Finn, Ger Holland, Nadine O’Regan, Maura Fay, Declan Hughes, Catherine Moylan, Declan Burke, Cormac Kinsella, Tracy Fenton, John O’Donnell, Deirdre Kinahan, Myles Dungan, P. J. Lynch, Eoin Colfer, Hilary White, Caroline Grace-Cassidy, Bill Whelan, Mary Dorcey, Cliodhna Ni Anluain, Evelyn O’Rourke, Rosemary Graham, Keelin Shanley, Sam Baker, Sonja Hall Tiernan, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, Martin Doyle, Cat Hogan, Morag Prunty, Andrea Carter, Valur Gunnarsson, Sigurjón Sigurgeirsson, Sinead McDonnell, Sheila Killian, Paul McVeigh, Maire Logue, David Torrans, Kit de Waal, Pauline Clooney, Nicole Shanahan, Maire Hanrahan, Declan Meade, Liz Walsh, Dave Rudden, Sarah Davis-Goff, Sophie Goodfellow, Judith Gantley, Katherine Garnier, Alan Douglas, Ciaran Walsh, Alison McKenna, Amanda Fennelly, Sabine Durrant, Sinead Nic Aodha, Ger Gaughran, Martina Devlin, Peter Ryan NZ, Kate Moloney, Eilis Ni Dhuibhne, Catherine Dunne, Lia Mills, Francis O’Hara, Tony Baines, Eimear O’Herlihy, Anna Fox, Valerie Bistany, Sean Rocks, Anna Carey, all the CSers and, last but not least, the ones from whom I’ll expect a strongly worded email as to why they were omitted. Sorry, my brain is fried.
Librarians, writers, book bloggers, booksellers, literary-festival programmers, curators and moderators, interviewers and interviewees, and you – dear readers – you are the people that rock my world and make it all worthwhile. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING
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PENGUIN BOOKS
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Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
First published 2020
Copyright © Liz Nugent, 2020
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Cover image © Stephen Mulcahey/Trevillion Images
ISBN: 978-1-844-88396-7
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
