The Girl in the Water

by A J Grayson

  This book is in your hands because of the tireless devotion and advocacy of Kate Bradley, Senior Commissioning Editor at Harper Fiction and extraordinary advocate of my writing. Her enthusiasm for The Boy in the Park couldn’t be matched — except perhaps by her dedication to this book. Not only is she an extraordinary publisher, but also a gifted editor whose creativity and conceptual know-how brought out the very best in this novel. I’d also like to thank Charlotte Ledger and Kimberley Young, who head up the list at HarperCollins and who continue to champion my books. My gratitude likewise to Nicki Kennedy, Sam Edinburgh and all their colleagues at ILA, who continue to do such wonders with international rights and translations.

  I wish to thank Thomas Johnson for correcting my ornithology and ensuring that the impossible phrase, ‘the cormorants were singing’ didn’t make its way into this book; and Martina Velasquez, who helped ensure that my men didn’t sound too much like the women, and that all the women didn’t sound like her (though the thought that I might speak in her cadence is an entirely happy one).

  Finally, I want to thank the readers of The Boy in the Park, who took to my writing with such amazing enthusiasm — both in its English original, as well as in various translations: especially to my readers in Germany, who propelled the German edition up the lists with ferocious abandon. Your responses, reviews, social media posts and personal notes to me have been a source of real encouragement (I read every one), and I hope I’ve done you justice with this second offering.

  About the Author

  AJ Grayson drinks extraordinary amounts of coffee and likes to write on an old Corona Standard typewriter, though is enough of a technical enthusiast to buy whatever Apple dangles from its latest stick. Time not spent writing books is time spent reading them, walking (perhaps unsurprisingly, in parks), working with youths and adults in various counselling settings and teaching.

  Please be in touch with AJ Grayson on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @GraysonForReal

  Also by AJ Grayson

  The Boy in the Park

  About the Publisher

  Australia

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  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

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  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

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