Alex Hay
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
So many people have helped to bring The Housekeepers into the world, so please indulge me as I try and thank as many of them as possible…
Colossal thanks to my agent, Alice Lutyens. Dream-maker, straight-talker, story guru, you have given so much of your formidable skill and care to this book and to me, and I’m so grateful. Sincere thanks to Shanika Hyslop for amazing support at the start of this mad and joyful ride, and to the whole superstar team at Curtis Brown—with special appreciation to Luke Speed, Anna Weguelin, and Theo Roberts for taking Mrs. King to L.A. and beyond.
Enormous thanks to my phenomenal editors, Frankie Edwards at Headline and Melanie Fried at Graydon House. Your tireless reading, ingenious suggestions, and unfailing good humor made the editorial process such a collaborative and creative joy. Frankie, thank you for piloting everyone on “Team Housekeepers” with such vision, imagination, and skill; you simply got this book, and me, from day one, and have made this such a special experience. Melanie, enormous thanks for your incredible guidance and discerning eye, which strengthened this book immeasurably; it’s been such a pleasure! Singular thanks to Jessie Goetzinger-Hall for your amazing input and the most excellent （and motivating） correspondence. Thanks to Samantha Stewart and Greg Stephenson for meticulous copyediting, and to Shan Morley Jones, Nikki Sinclair, Leigh Teetzel, Sasha Regehr, and Erin Moore for amazing proofreading.
At Headline, epic thanks must be given to: Rebecca Folland, Flora McMichael, Grace McCrum, and everyone in Rights; Becky Bader, Chris Keith-Wright, and everyone in Sales; Caitlin Raynor for publicity; Lucy Hall for marketing; Hannah Cawse for audio; Louise Rothwell for production. Thank you to Mari Evans, Jennifer Doyle, and Sherise Hobbs for the warmest of welcomes and for your support. At Graydon House, special thanks to Diane Lavoie and Ambur Hostyn for marketing, Heather Connor, Sophie James, and Leah Morse for publicity, and all those in the sales, production, and subrights departments who worked behind the scenes to support The Housekeepers so brilliantly. Thank you to Andrew Smither and Quinn Banting for designing the most beautiful covers. So much creativity, energy, and talent has gone into launching The Housekeepers from publishers in territories around the world, and I’m so grateful to everyone involved.
To the matchless community of authors, book bloggers, reviewers, and early readers who have shown early support for The Housekeepers—thank you so very much!
To Wendy Bough and the Caledonia Novel Award—being longlisted for the 2022 prize boosted The Housekeepers in ways I couldn’t have imagined, and made all the difference; thank you.
To everyone at Curtis Brown Creative: thank you. Heartfelt and fondest thanks to Anna Davis for astute and generous advice over the years; to Norah Perkins for early encouragement; to the incomparable Erin Kelly for such kindness and inspiration; to Katie Smart; and to my beloved CBC classmates for great dinners, wonderful friendship, and for reading multiple books/ideas/emails/urgent Whatsapp queries about how to use Track Changes over the years.
To my cherished Apple Owls/Dancing Toads—Amy, Anneka, Fran, Sacha—I love you beyond the telling of it, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for cheering me along on this journey. Special thanks to Richard, fellow resident of the Towers, for such solidarity and encouragement over the years.
Immeasurable thanks to my wonderful mother （and marvelous writer） Dale Frances Hay. You’ve inspired, encouraged and supported me in ways too numerous to count or name, so I shall just say the most sincere thank you, with all my love.
And finally, and with a swelling heart and all the love in the world, thank you to my wonderful husband, Tom. You’ve been at my side, literally and figuratively, the whole time I was writing this book. Your questions and advice strengthened The Housekeepers before it even went out on submission, and your patience and kindness and support meant the world during those nervous days/weeks/months/years waiting to see if it would all pay off. Thank you for cracking open the prosecco when it was needed most: a Perfect Moment that wouldn’t have meant nearly as much without you there. Thanks, buddy—I love you.