‘Writing the acknowledgements for a book is a uniquely weird experience’

Have you ever had to do a stocktake of your friends? I have, twice now. Writing acknowledgements for a book is a uniquely weird experience. For the hardback of my debut novel, Queenie, mine took up three pages. For the paperback edition, they’ve just got longer, as I added friends I’ve picked up along the way. But I also went through and looked at the names of people I don’t talk to any more, and felt mainly sad that I haven’t managed to hold on to everyone since I finished writing the book three years ago. It has been a long and bumpy road, let me tell you. And I’m not always good at texting back.

Related: Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino review – on self-delusion

I flipped to the back of the book I’m reading now, the brilliant essay collection Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino, to compare and contrast. A chatty patty like me, she offers three pages of free flowing, anecdotal and amusing gratitude. Sally Rooney’s acknowledgements come in at a single page; I’d expect nothing less from the queen of lean prose. I considered cutting mine down to match hers, but I realised I’m still grateful to every single person who was there on my hardback journey. And I hope they know that. Even if I don’t text back.