The Past

Acknowledgements

My most heartfelt thanks to Dan Franklin and Caroline Dawnay, Jennifer Barth and Joy Harris, who once again all lent their wisdom and their kindness. I have borrowed my structure — The Present, The Past, The Present — shamelessly from Elizabeth Bowen’s superb novel The House in Paris, and I have borrowed some details of les événements in Paris, May 1968, equally shamelessly from Mavis Gallant’s fascinating account of them in her Paris Notebooks. I’m always grateful to my university, Bath Spa, which supports all kinds of art-endeavour and makes a writing life easier — and for my friends and colleagues and students there who care about good books. I’m grateful to Katherine Ailes and Sophie Scard and Deirdre Molina, for such thoughtful reading. And to Eric for everything.