The Last of Us

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Karolina Sutton, Norah Perkins and Lucy Morris of Curtis Brown, and to Katie Espiner, Charlotte Cray, Suzie Dooré, Cassie Browne and Ann Bissell and all the team at the Borough Press. Thanks to Claire Ward for her fantastic cover design. Thanks also to Donald Sinclair for checking my Gaelic; and to Jamie and Elspeth Traynor and Miranda Barkham.

Special thanks to Karin for all her support and encouragement over the years, and to our three children, whose book title suggestions – Life’s a Beach, Staying Alive – were better than any I came up with. Thanks also to the real-life Elizabeth, for the gifts you gave. And thank you mum, for everything.

A final thanks to the people of Barra and Vatersay, for their warmth, humour and kindness during our stay there.