What else?
Acknowledgments
This book could not have been written without my beloved friend Miranda Richards, who taught me not to be afraid of the Dow Jones and so much else.
I want to thank Hilary Rosen for her heroic research into the subject of this novel and for the e-mails which make me laugh out loud whenever life got too Kate-like. There are so many Kate Reddys out there who offered up their disasters with incredible good humor; they know who they are and I salute them.
Episodes from I Don’t Know How She Does It first appeared in the Daily Telegraph. I am indebted to Sarah Sands for giving Kate her big break and to Charles Moore for his forbearance and kindness.
Nicola Jeal, at the London Evening Standard, was a constant support, and now that she has a baby herself she can find out if I’m telling the truth.
As a first-time author, I was very fortunate in my agents, Pat Kavanagh in London and Joy Harris in New York. My editors — Jordan Pavlin at Knopf, Alison Samuel at Chatto and Caroline Michel at Vintage — brought the baby into the world with loving care. Norman North at PFD and Miramax’s Lola Bubbosh ensured that one day Kate will have a second life on the big screen, while Nicki Kennedy at ILA sold her around the world with reckless enthusiasm.
Others offered moral support and practical criticism: Adam Gopnik, Martha Parker, Quentin Curtis, Anne McElvoy, Kathryn Lloyd, Claerwen James, Richard Preston, Philippa Lowthorpe, Prue Shaw, Tamsyn Salter, Justine Jarrett, Naomi Benson and Niamh O’Brien.
A book about mothers naturally owes a great deal to the writer’s own. I want to thank my Mum for giving me a love of song lyrics and babies, and for her precious time, the value of which I am somewhat belatedly starting to appreciate.
The character of Ben would not have been created without the lovely hindrance of Thomas Lane. Emily’s observations were inspired by the wit and wisdom of Eveline Lane, Isabelle and Madeleine Urban and Polly, Amelia and Theodora Richards.
Finally, I send all my love and gratitude to Anthony Lane, who can take credit for most of the commas in this book and for all of the semicolons. While the fictional life of a harassed working mother was being created in our house, he loaded the washing machine, cooked dinner, read Owl Babies three hundred times and even found time to write the odd film review. I don’t know how he does it.
Allison Pearson
London, April 2002