I want to be free.
I wonder if anyone will ever read the story I want to write?
The eighty clocks downstairs are quiet again, and I enjoy the silence as I type the first few words on the blank page: I was born with a broken heart. I spent my whole life hiding inside stories when the real world got too loud. I don’t know if anyone will ever read mine. There are some stories only time will tell.
Acknowledgements
Books are a bit like children for authors, we’re not really allowed to have favourites, but Daisy Darker is mine. I first had the idea for Daisy in 2015 and it took me over five years to write her story. I wouldn’t have been able to write it at all without the following people.
Forever thank you to Jonny Geller for being the best agent in the known universe and one of the best humans I know. And forever thank you to Kari Stuart, my Mary Poppins, and agent extraordinaire. I don’t think I can remember how to exist without these two people, and I feel very lucky and eternally grateful to have them in my life.
Thank you to Kate Cooper and Nadia Mokdad for all the translations of my novels. Seeing my books out in the world will never be anything less than magic, and Kate and Nadia are my favourite magicians. Thank you to Josie Freedman, Luke Speed and Anna Weguelin for the screen adaptations of my stories. And thank you to everyone else at Curtis Brown and ICM who do so much for me and my books, especially Viola Hayden, Ciara Finan and Sophie Storey （a.k.a. the Geller Office Book Club!）。
Huge thanks to my editor in the UK, the one and only Wayne Brookes, and the rest of the brilliant team at Pan Macmillan. Thank you for believing in Daisy, and for turning this story into such a beautiful book. And huge thanks to my US editor, Christine Kopprasch, and the brilliant team at Flatiron. I feel so lucky to be working with the best in the business on both sides of the pond. I’m also very grateful to all of my foreign publishers who take such good care of my novels.
Thank you to everyone who helped with the research for this book, with special thanks to the loveliest vet in the land, Louise Ketteridge, for letting me shadow her at her practice. The experience changed the plot in more ways than one. Thank you to the beautiful Cornish coast for inspiring the setting of this book. I have been visiting the same secluded spot on my birthday for years, and I picture Daisy and Seaglass there every time.
Thank you to the librarians, booksellers, journalists and book reviewers who have been so kind about my books. And thank you to all the book bloggers, and bookstagrammers . . . I love seeing your beautiful pictures from all around the world. My books travel far more than I do these days, and I am quite jealous.
Thank you to my Daniel who is my first reader, my best friend, and my favourite human. Thank you to Diggi, for being the most wonderful writing companion and the best dog in the world. My final and biggest thank you is to my readers. I wouldn’t be here without you. This book is for you.
About the Author
Alice Feeney is a New York Times million-copy bestselling author. Her books have been translated into over twenty-five languages, and have been optioned for major screen adaptations. Including her novel Rock Paper Scissors, which is being made into a TV series by the producer of The Crown. Alice was a BBC journalist for fifteen years, and now lives in Devon with her family. Daisy Darker is her fifth novel.