Five(72)

Acknowledgments


Many brilliant, forward-looking, creative, and talented people have been involved in the making of Five. Writing a story is a solitary undertaking, but making it a book is a team endeavor, and I am so very grateful to my extraordinary team.

My unending thanks to my thoughtful, wise, and ingenious editors, Amy Einhorn, Lori Kusatzky, and Manpreet Grewal, for elevating this story and inspiring me to give you the best writing I can give. My thanks also to your teams, who have done a million things behind the scenes to create this book.

I am fortunate to be represented by two fierce and fearless agents. Thank you, Alice Lutyens, for your straightforward honesty and incredible eye and editorial skill which shaped this manuscript. Rebecca Gradinger, thank you for your guidance, calm, and coolness under pressure, and overall coolness in general.

Thank you, Elisabeth Magnus, copy editor, for your precision of language and incredible eye for detail.

My forever gratitude to my writing group, the writer-mother-genius-woman-warriors who have cheered me on and kept me going: Sarah Asante Gregory, Caro Giles, Hannah Loy, Nicola Washington, and Penny Wincer.

Infinite thanks and love to my trusted early readers for your friendship and your time: Jessica Alexander, Lesley Bourns, Elaine Davenport, Crescent Maaz, Mariah Pizzano, and Jen Rachman. With special thanks to Barry O’Leary, for his continuous support from the beginning of my career. Every writer needs a friend like Barry.

My love and thanks to Tim, Leo, and Rex, without whom there is nothing, and for whom I would do anything and everything. And for whom I do actually do everything as it turns out, so you guys got a pretty good deal with me. I love you.

To make the platform scenes in Five as plausible as possible, I rode many British trains, waited on many platforms, and did in-depth online research, and I found the website https://www.railforums.co.uk, where UK railway staff give insights and explanations about their work, very helpful. My sincerest thanks to the many unsung, unseen heroes of the railways and stations who work hard, day after day, in stressful and ever-changing conditions to keep the public safe and moving in the UK.

And, in case you want to check, the BBC did in fact say that only 56 percent of British trains were on time in 2023, as reported in the article “Rail Disruption: Train Cancellations as High as 13 Percent in 2023,” by Jonathan Fagg and Emily Unia, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-66664323, September 4, 2023.

For the stories of Gideon and Emma, I researched sociopathy and psychopathy and was influenced by: the articles “Life as a Nonviolent Psychopath” by Judith Ohikuare, The Atlantic, January 21, 2014, and “When Your Child Is a Psychopath” by Barbara Bradley Hagerty, The Atlantic, June 2017; the films The Family I Had (2017, Investigation Discovery Films, Katie Green, Carlye Rubin, Tina Grapenthin, producers; Katie Green, Carlye Rubin, directors) and We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011, Paramount Pictures, Jennifer Fox, Luc Roeg, Robert Salerno, producers; Lynne Ramsay, director), especially the performance of Tilda Swinton; and the books Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne and We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver.

For the story of Mrs. Worth, I researched PTSD in war veterans, animal necropsy, and forensic pathology, and I was influenced by: the articles “The Long Echo of WW2 Trauma” by Stephen Mulvey, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-48528841, June 8, 2019; “The Family That Wouldn’t Let PTSD Drive Them Apart” by Matthew Green, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39152095, March 6, 2017; and the books Color Atlas of Small Animal Necropsy by Richard E. Moreland and the truly incredible Unnatural Causes by Dr. Richard Shepherd.

For the story of Liam and Danny I watched many online videos and talks by people with cerebral palsy, and I researched societal attitudes toward people with disabilities in Britain in the 1980s and 90s. I was also influenced by the following: Down All the Days and My Left Foot by Christy Brown; Stairs for Breakfast: An Inspiring Memoir by a Man with Cerebral Palsy Who Doesn’t Let Anything Stand in His Way by Patrick Souiljaert; and “Attitudes Towards Disability in the 80s Made My Life Hell, but Things Are Changing” by Darren, https://www.scope.org.uk/news-and-stories/attitudes-towards-disability-in-the-80s-made-my-life-hell, May 25, 2022. Special thanks to Athena Stevens for her thorough feedback and insights on the character and life of Danny.

For the story of Sonny, I researched gambling addiction and drew from gambling recovery podcasts and Ted Talks, as well as spending time on online gambling websites. I was also influenced by many articles including, “I Stole ?70,000 to Feed My Addiction” by Rachel Stonehouse, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-56997362, May 7, 2022, and “Female Gambling Addicts: I Lost ?50,000 in Six Days,” BBC East Midlands, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-56675466, April 11, 2021.

I spent time researching passenger injuries and deaths by suicide involving trains in the UK. I came across many sad stories of loss, as well as stories of hope, and both are a testament to the depth of the human spirit. I was influenced by Jay-Marie Mackenzie, Jo Borrill, Emily Hawkins, Bob Fields, Ian Kruger, Ian Noonan, and Lisa Marzano, “Behaviours Preceding Suicides at Railway and Underground Locations: A Multimethodological Qualitative Approach,” BMJ Open, 2018.

Additionally, for Sonny’s story, I drew courage from the raw, beautiful, and honest writing of my friend and colleague, Caro Giles, and her unflinching memoir, Unschooled, which should be required reading for any education professional who works with neurodiverse children.