The Honours (40 page)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, big thanks to my beta readers, Steven Rayner, Andy Bennett and Robin Mueller, who painstakingly read through early, not very good versions of the novel and gave solid advice. Thank you to Molly Naylor, Chelsey Flood and Iain Ross, who offered feedback on early extracts. Thank you to Laura Dockrill, who discussed ideas with me and helped me build up the courage to start writing. Thanks also to Luke Kennard, who generously allowed me to blather at him for an hour over the phone about plot anxieties with almost no context. It really did help.

Particular thanks to Nathan Filer and Joe Dunthorne, for their kind words and support throughout the book's journey.

I'm indebted to Chris Gribble and the brilliant team at Writers Centre Norwich for their ongoing support. From initial inspiration in Australia, to the fiction workshop with Henry Sutton where I found my direction, to the final work of shaping and editing, they have provided crucial help through the whole creative process. Thank you also to the Arts Council, whose support gave me that all-important crack at a focused period of writing.

Heartfelt thanks to my agent Sophie Lambert, whose boundless enthusiasm, articulate and honest feedback, intimidating work ethic and professional acumen have been a constant inspiration.

I'm very grateful to my brilliant editor Jo Dingley, who believed the story could be better, and helped me make it so. The best bits in the book are there because of her.

Thank you to the tireless team at Canongate for the huge amounts of energy they have channelled into the book, and to Peter Adlington for designing such a badass cover.

The love and reassurance of my parents has kept me going through some difficult years, as has the continued tolerance of the rest of my family, Nan, Ben and Megan Clare. Sincere thanks to them. This book is dedicated to my grandmother, Omi, who was tough and kind.

Finally, thank you to my incredible wife, Lisa Horton, who puts up with a husband only half in this world, listens with patient encouragement to interminable monologues on obscure historical curiosities, and has, in the years since I met her, quietly made my life miraculous.