Mirrorland

Acknowledgements

So many people make a book. Probably more than I know about or am able to mention here, but to whom I am immeasurably grateful nonetheless.

Many thanks firstly to Carla Josephson of the Borough Press, for taking a chance on both me and Mirrorland, for all her support and enthusiasm from day one, and, last but not least, for being such an amazing editor.

Huge thanks, too, to the rest of the Borough team at HarperCollins: Suzie Dooré, Ore Agbaje-Williams, Ann Bissell, and Jaime Witcomb. Thank you to Claire Ward and Holly Macdonald for their terrific artwork (and endless patience!). To Izzy Coburn, Rachel Quin, and Katy Blott for all their brilliant efforts in bringing Mirrorland to as many readers as possible. And final thanks to all the wonderful copy editors and proof readers, for catching all my mistakes before anyone else could see them! I have loved working with you all.

My greatest thanks must go to Hellie Ogden, agent extraordinaire. Without her tireless talent, enthusiasm, and support – editorial, practical, emotional, you name it – Mirrorland as it is would not exist. In the last few years, my life has completely changed, in ways I never imagined possible, and I’ve bookmarked the moment that began as the day Hellie called to offer me representation.

Grateful thanks, too, to all at Janklow & Nesbit UK, especially Zoë Nelson, Ellis Hazelgrove, and Maimy Suleiman in Foreign Rights. Claire Conrad for all advice and support. And Kirsty Gordon and Kate Longman for financial and practical advice re. the dreaded admin.

I am also indebted to Detective Constable Robbie West, as well as Steph Miller and Dougie MacLeod, for their invaluable advice regarding Scottish criminal law, sheriff and High Court protocols, and police procedure. An extra special thank you must go to James Loosemore. Your endless patience, advice, and attention to detail was and is very much appreciated. Any and all inaccuracies are entirely mine.

Thanks, too, to Forensic Biologist, Steph Fox, for advice regarding forensics and crime scene processing. Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime, by the brilliant Val McDermid, was also an invaluable resource.

Dr. Boris Cyrulnik is a French psychiatrist and ethologist, who has spent years studying childhood trauma and experience. His book, Resilience, was a fascinating and, again, invaluable resource when writing Mirrorland.

A big thank you to Richard Leask for teaching me the basics of sailing and sailboats. Even more helpfully, all the ways in which I could sink one.

Thank you to the two very talented writers, Nina Allan and Priya Sharma, whose wonderful support and friendship over the years (and, of course, early reading!) has meant more to me than they can ever know.

And also to Stephen King, a man whom I’ve never met, but who will remain forever my first writer crush. Whose fantastic memoir, On Writing, was the push I needed to get my first short story published back in the mid 2000s, and one of the reasons I kept writing even when it seemed impossible; when the rejections were piled so high I could have filled a room with them. His books taught me that stories can take you anywhere and everywhere. And that they’re the best escape there is.

Thank you to my godmother, Susan McEwan, for always believing in me even if I didn’t.

Thank you to Mum and Dad, for too many things to mention. Mostly for instilling in me the kind of resilience and discipline required to keep going no matter how hard it gets or hopeless it looks. (The teenage me is spinning in her grave).

Thank you to my husband, Iain, for all the love, support, and patience required to be married to me. For never saying no to any adventure, no matter how mad or selfish.

And to my sister, Lorna, to whom I have dedicated this book. Thank you for never once rolling your eyes when I turned up to yet another holiday with yet another A4 binder of pages for you to read. Thank you for always reading them. And thank you, most of all, for being the very best friend a sister could ever have.

And last but absolutely not least, thank you to every reader of this story, of all stories. This book would never have become a book without you.